Effect Of Anterior Chamber Associated Immune Deviation On Orthotopic Corneal Allografts In Alkali Burned Eyes

The success rate of cornea! allografts placed in so-called high-risk eyes is still very low. Previous studies revealed that rejection of orthotopic corneal allografts correlated with acquisition of donor-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH). It has been shown that anterior chamber-associated immune deviation(ACAID) selectively impairs DTH responses to antigens placed in the anterior chamber(AC). In this research we want to determine whether induction of donor-specific ACAID could prolong cornea! allograft survival in alkali burned high-risk eyes. This research includes two parts as follows: Part I Induction of Anterior Chamber-Associated Immune Deviation by Inoculating Muscles into Anterior Chamber Purpose To determine the efficiency with which muscle tissue can induce ACAID, small pieces of allogeneic muscles were inserted into AC of normal eyes of recipients. Methods Small pieces of muscles from the back of normal domestic white rabbits were cut into fragments measunng approximately 1mm x 2mm x 2mm 3 ~4眫 (2001) ~ and inserted into the AC, using New Zealand white rabbits as recipients. 10 and 16 days later, the recipients were challenged with orthotopic skin allografts from the same donors to determine whether the skin allograft survival in the two groups of recipients could be prolonged. Results Allogeneic muscles survived indefinitely in the anterior chambers without evidence of inflammation or rejection. Skin allograft survival of the two groups were both enhanced (P<0.05), comparing with that of untreated controls. Conclusions ACAID can be induced by allogeneic muscle tissue inoculated into the AC. Part II Effect of Anterior Chamber-Associated Immune Deviation on Orthotopic Corneal Allografts in Alkali Burned Eyes Purpose To examine the effect of donor-specific ACALD induction on the survival of orthotopic comeal allografts in alkali burned high-risk eyes. Methods Central comeal alkali bum injuries were induced in New Zealand white rabbits by iN NaOH to establish single-eye high-risk model. These rabbits were randomly allocated into Induced group and Control group, and 1 month later orthotopic keratoplasty was performed. 10 days before keratoplasty, donor-specific ACAID was induced by inoculating muscle tissue from donors into recipients AC in Induced group, whereas Control group was untreated. Keratoplasty was performed in both two groups to determine whether survival of allografts in Induced group was prolonged comparing with that of Control group. Results Comeal allografts survival of induced groups was enhanced (P<0.05), comparing with that of untreated controls. Conclusions Induction of donor-specific ACAID effectively prolongs comeal allograft survival in alkali burned high-risk eyes.