Table 2.

Summary of in vitro models used in studies of diabetic corneal epithelial complications

Model	Authors	Type	Major application	Advantages	Drawbacks
Cultured human epithelial cells	Yang et al16	Primary	Diabetic keratopathy	An established cell culture system for investigating epithelial wound healing in high glucose medium.	Limited lifespan of cells. The lack of blood supply and innervation lowers clinical translatability of results.
Mouse corneal epithelial cell line	Yang et al16	Cell line	Diabetic keratopathy	Allows for genetic manipulation to study mechanisms of pathogenesis.	Cells may have genetic and phenotypical differences as well as altered morphology when compared with normal corneal epithelial cells.
Trigeminal ganglia neuronal cells	Dai et al11	Primary	Diabetic corneal neuropathy	A tight control of the extracellular environment ensuring a precise neuronal environment for studies.	The lack of corneal epithelial cells prevents investigation into the impact of trigeminal nerve health on wound healing.