Transplant of oral mucosal epithelium to rabbit ocular surface wounds in vivo
I. K. Gipson, H. S. Geggel and S. J. Spurr-Michaud
Sheets of epithelium freed of underlying connective tissue and basal lamina
with dispase II were obtained from explants of rabbit oral mucosa.
Epithelial sheets were then sutured onto abraded (basement membrane intact)
or keratectomized corneal-limbal zones or abraded central corneas of
anesthetized rabbits. To develop the procedure, allografts to abraded (N =
13) and keratectomized wounds (N = 3) on the corneal-limbal zone were done.
All allografts were retained on the wound bed until the experiment was
terminated or rejection occurred. Prior to rejection, eyes were uninflamed
and quiet. Allografts on central avascular corneal wounds (N = 8) were not
maintained. Autografts (N = 4) sutured to corneal-limbal abrasion wounds
were maintained until animals were killed at the end of the experiment, 22,
26, 60, and 120 days after transplant. Eyes were uninflamed and quiet. A
fine vascular bed developed under both allografts and autografts in the
peripheral cornea. Grafts maintained some histologic characteristics of
oral mucosal epithelium, even after four months. These data indicate that
it is feasible to transplant oral mucosal epithelium to corneal-limbal
ocular surface wounds and that the grafts will be maintained. Such
transplants are, however, not maintained over central, avascular corneal
regions.
