Nondestructive metabolic analysis of a cornea with the use of phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance

J. V. Greiner, S. J. Kopp and T. Glonek

The viability of corneal donor material for penetrating keratoplasty depends on the metabolic status of the tissue; application of nondestructive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to the evaluation of donor tissue metabolism may provide information that would allow improved selection of donor material. The NMR spectrum generated from a single intact cornea permits qualitative and quantitative analysis of the following phosphatic metabolites: the sugar phosphates, inorganic orthophosphate, the alpha- and beta-phosphates of adenosine diphosphate and adenosine triphosphate, and the gamma-phosphate of adenosine triphosphate. Furthermore, the intracorneal pH (6.8) can be monitored from the resonance shift position of inorganic orthophosphate and can serve as an additional indicator of metabolic viability. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate the feasibility of the use of phosphorus NMR to monitor the metabolic status of a single intact cornea preserved in culture medium.