Figure 4.

The intrastromal injection of HAse significantly but transiently increased corneal stiffness. At day 1, HAse-injected corneas showed a significantly greater elastic modulus versus untreated corneas. By day 7, elastic modulus was maximal and significantly greater in HAse-injected corneas versus BSS-treated and untreated controls. By day 90, elastic modulus of the HAse-injected corneas had returned to baseline and did not differ from the 2 groups. Results are expressed as mean ± SD. ⁺P < 0.05 compared to baseline, *P < 0.05 between the HAse- and BSS-treated groups at the same time point, n = 4 per group, 1-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey's pairwise multiple comparison test.