Figure 5.

Examinations of corneal endothelium. (A) Representative IVCM images for experimental rabbits. At day 1, sparse and blurred CECs could be seen in the MNU + saline group, and the CECs disappeared from day 3 to day 28. Correspondingly, the CECs in the MNU + HRS group were damaged at a slower speed from day 1 to day 7, showing high reflex, irregular and sparse CECs at day 7. In the MNU + HRS group, CECs regenerated from day 14 after intervention, and images of normal CECs were obtained at day 28, showing uniform hexagonal cells and low reflex on the edge, which meant a return to normal corneal endothelium. Scale bar = 100 µm. (B) SEM assay of rabbit corneas. SEM showed that a small number of deformed CECs or cellular residual structures could be seen at day 1 and day 3, no CEC was observed after day 7, and DM injury was observed after day 21 in the MNU + saline group. There were CEC deformation and structural disorder on the inner surface of the cornea in the the MNU + HRS group at day 1 and day 3, and the regeneration of CECs after day 7, but still damage to the DM and CEC layer. Scale bar = 100 µm. (C) The corneal specimens were stained with alizarin red S and trypan blue. It was found that CECs were completely ablated, and the cell structure could not be observed in the MNU + saline group during the entire observation period. In the MNU + HRS group, the structure of CECs showed vacuolar patchy injury, which became more and more serious from day 1 to day 7, and gradually alleviated from day 7 to day 21, and was similar to that of normal CECs at day 28. Scale bar = 50 µm.