In vivo corneal confocal microscopy in rat 
and human corneas

Paris – mechentel news – The goal of the study by L. Kowalczuk et al. from Laboratory of Applied Optics, ENSTA ParisTech, Paris, France, is to highlight structural corneal changes in a model of type 2 diabetes, using in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (CCM). The scientists observed Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats at age 12 weeks (n = 3) and 1 year (n = 6), and compared to age-matched controls. After in vivo CCM examination, TEM and SHG microscopy were used to characterize the ultrastructure and the three-dimensional organization of the abnormalities. Human corneas from diabetic (n = 3) and nondiabetic (n = 3) patients were also included in the study. In the basal epithelium of GK rats, CCM revealed focal hyper-reflective areas, and histology showed proliferative cells with irregular basement membrane. In the anterior stroma, extracellular matrix modifications were detected by CCM and confirmed in histology. In the Descemet’s membrane periphery of all the diabetic corneas, hyper-reflective deposits were highlighted using CCM and characterized as long-spacing collagen fibrils by TEM. SHG microscopy revealed these deposits with high contrast, allowing specific detection in diabetic human and rat corneas without preparation and characterization of their three-dimensional organization. The autors concluded in the issue of february from Transl Vis Sci Technol. that, pathologic findings were observed early in the development of diabetes in GK rats. Similar abnormalities have been found in corneas from diabetic patient.

Autoren: Kowalczuk L, Latour G, Bourges JL, Savoldelli M, Jeanny JC, Plamann K, Schanne-Klein MC, Behar-Cohen F. Korrespondenz: Francine Behar-Cohen, Centre de Recherches des Cordeliers, UMR S 872, Team 17: Physiopathology of ocular diseases: therapeutic innovations, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris Descartes University; 15 rue de l’école de médecine; 75006 Paris, France. E-Mail: francine.behar@gmail.com. Studie: Multimodal Highlighting of Structural Abnormalities in Diabetic Rat and Human Corneas. Quelle: Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2013 Feb;2(2):3. doi: 10.1167/tvst.2.2.3 Web: http://tvstjournal.org/doi/abs/10.1167/tvst.2.2.3