Researchers from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Doshisha University, and Shiga Medical University announced on the 12th that they successfully recovered the disease by directly injecting cultured allogeneic corneal endothelial cells into the cornea of patients with bullous keratopathy during a clinical study. the patient's vision.
The cornea is a layer of transparent membrane located on the front wall of the eyeball. The corneal endothelial cells are located in the innermost part of the cornea, which can adjust the moisture and maintain the transparency of the cornea. Bullous keratopathy is caused by trauma and other reasons, resulting in a significant reduction of corneal endothelial cells, resulting in the formation of corneal epithelial blisters, resulting in corneal opacity, poor vision, and eye pain.
Because corneal endothelial cells do not regenerate in the body, the main treatment method for the disease is to transplant the cornea or corneal endothelium. However, the transplant operation has long faced the problem of insufficient cornea providers, and since most cornea providers are elderly, they are prone to cell aging. resulting in reduced functionality.
Previously, the researchers used low-molecular-weight compounds and three agents to culture human corneal endothelial cells in petri dishes, and successfully achieved cell proliferation. After transplanting to 14 cynomolgus monkeys with corneal endothelial cells stripped, it was found that the transplanted cells took root as corneal endothelium, and the corneal opacity of the monkeys initially improved.
In this clinical study, the researchers used the above method to cultivate corneal endothelial cells from a 10-year-old boy imported from an eye bank in the United States. From December last year to February this year, they were transplanted into three bullae with a syringe. About 1 million corneal endothelial cells are implanted in the inner side of the cornea of patients with keratopathy. turn out
These cells took root and the cornea regained its transparency. The eye chart test showed that the patient's visual acuity has now recovered from .05 to 0.06 before surgery to 0.1 to 0.9.
The therapy developed this time can use the cornea provided by one donor to transplant several patients, and can also transplant multiple transplants to the same patient. The research team plans to continue to improve the culture method and transplant about 30 patients over the next 2 years to confirm the effectiveness.
"Compared with conventional transplants, this method has less risk of damaging the cornea and less burden on the body," said Shigeru Kinoshita, a professor at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and the leader of the research team. , so it is possible to maintain function for a long time.”