Cornea
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Comparative Study
Cellular response and reactive hyaluronan production in UV-exposed rabbit corneas.
The distribution of hyaluronan (HA) and the cellular response after photokeratitis induced by different ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths in the rabbit cornea was examined to help understand the mechanism of corneal injury and repair after UV damage. HA is a high molecular weight disaccharide polymer capable of binding considerable amounts of water. It is not normally found in the rabbit corneal stroma. The production of HA represents a generalized corneal response to injury. ⋯ A keratitis dose of 310 nm of UV light irradiation is needed to cause keratocyte damage. A keratitis dose of the shorter wavelengths does not cause keratocyte cell damage at the light microscopic level. The keratocyte production of HA appears to be a sign of cell readiness to repopulate the damaged stroma devoid of keratocytes.