Corneal crosslinking with riboflavin using sunlight.
J Cataract Refract Surg
; 49(10): 1049-1055, 2023 10 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37343287
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To assess whether sunlight might be used to induce a biomechanical stiffening effect in riboflavin-soaked corneas similar to the effect observed in corneal crosslinking (CXL) using riboflavin and UV-A light.SETTING:
Center for Applied Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.DESIGN:
Experimental study.METHODS:
52 porcine eyes were assayed. The concentration of riboflavin in the corneal stroma was estimated using UV-A transmission in a preliminary experiment. Then, the duration of sunlight exposure to achieve a fluence of 7.2/cm 2 was calculated. Finally, de-epithelialized corneas were divided equally into 3 groups and soaked with riboflavin 0.1% (control group and Group 1) or 0.5% (Group 2). Eyes from Groups 1 and 2 were then exposed to sunlight. The elastic modulus was calculated as an indicator of stiffness.RESULTS:
Riboflavin concentration in Group B was higher by a factor of 2.8 than Group A. According to live illuminance measurements and stromal riboflavin concentration, the sunlight exposure duration varied between 16 minutes and 45 minutes. Groups 1 and 2 had higher elastic modulus than controls ( P < .0001) but did not differ between them ( P = .194). The stiffening effect was 84% and 55%, respectively.CONCLUSIONS:
Sunlight exposure of ex vivo corneas soaked in both riboflavin 0.1% and 0.5% resulted in increased corneal stiffness. Specifically, riboflavin 0.1% with longer UV-A exposure showed a trend for a greater stiffening effect, which might open new alleys for the use of oral riboflavin and fractioned sunlight exposure as less invasive CXL techniques.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sunlight
/
Collagen
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
J Cataract Refract Surg
Journal subject:
OFTALMOLOGIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article