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John L. Ubels, PhD; Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 1982;100(11):1828-1831.

Abstract
• In vitro perfusion of corneas of normal and vitamin A-deficient rabbits provided a model in which to study the pharmacokinetics of corneal permeability and uptake of retinoic acid and retinol. The permeability coefficients of retinoic acid and retinol were 1.49 x 10^-5 and 0.61 x 10^-5 cm/s, respectively. Removal of the corneal epithelium did not affect the permeability of these lipid-soluble retinoids; however, diffusion through xerophthalmic, vitamin A-deficient corneas was significantly reduced. The corneal uptake of retinoic acid and retinol was reduced by 50% on removal of the epithelium, was nonspecific, and was not affected by xerophthalmia. High-performance liquid chromatography indicated that these retinoids were not metabolized during diffusion through the cornea. These results show that topical application of retinoids is a rational approach to the treatment of such corneal diseases as xerophthalmia and epithelial defects.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Physiology (Drs Ubels and Edelhauser) and Ophthalmology (Dr Edelhauser), Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Oct 14, 1981.

Reprint requests to Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226 (Dr Edelhauser).

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