COMPARISON OF METHODS TO EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCE OPACIFICATION AND ELASTICITY CHANGE IN EX-VIVO PORCINE LENSES

Several methods to experimentally induce lens opacification in ex-vivo animal lenses for testing pharmacological substances to prevent or treat cataracts are described in the literature. However, in none of these studies the change in lens elasticity, which occurs in human age-related cataracts, was analyzed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of different methods to induce lens opacification and elasticity change in ex vivo porcine lenses.

Vienna Institute for Research in Ocular Surgery (VIROS), a Karl-Landsteiner-Institute, Hanusch Hospital, Vienna.

Porcine lenses were incubated in either culture medium, glucose, triamcinolone acetonide, sodium chloride, hydrogen peroxide, sodium selenite, neutral buffered formalin, or were exposed to microwave heating. Changes in lens morphology, weight, size, and elasticity were monitored 7 days after treatment. Experimentally induced lens opacification in the ex-vivo porcine lenses was graded by two independent masked examiners (grade 0 = no opacification, grade 3 = dense opacification).

The fastest and most dense lens opacification was induced when using microwave heating as well as incubation of lenses in neutral buffered formalin or hypertonic sodium chloride (all grade 3 opacification). However, loss of elasticity, as described for human age-related cataracts, was only seen with microwave heating and incubation in formalin solution, but not with the other methods tested.

Neutral buffered formalin- and microwave-treated ex-vivo porcine lenses seem to be a suitable model for inducing mature cataracts, whereas hypertonic sodium chloride may be useful for studies on osmolarity-induced lens opacification.