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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Exp Eye Res. 2020 Jul 10;198:108136. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2020.108136

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.

Subepithelial myofibroblasts detected with immunohistochemistry for alpha smooth muscle actin (SMA, green, arrows) after −4.5D, −9D PRK or −9D LASIK in rabbits. A. Very few, if any, SMA+ cells are detected in an unwounded rabbit cornea. B. Few SMA+ cells are detected in a cornea that had −4.5D PRK at one month after surgery. C. Similarly few SMA+ cells are detected at one week after −9D LASIK (insert shows the entry point of the microkeratome blade (arrowhead). At one month after −9D PRK (not shown) SMA+ myofibroblasts are only found at the peripheral edge of the LASIK flap where the epithelial basement membrane was damaged by the LASIK microkeratome. D. At one week after −9D PRK, only a single SMA+ myofibroblasts in detected in the subepithelial stroma. E. By one month after −9D PRK, numerous SMA+ myofibroblasts are present in the anterior stroma. F. At three months after −9D PRK, the SMA+ myofibroblasts have decreased. By 6 months after −9D PRK (not shown) few if any SMA+ myofibroblasts can be detected in the stroma. red is propidium iodide staining of nuclei. Mag. 200x Reprinted with permission from Mohan et al. Exp. Eye Res. 2003;76:71-87.