Comparative Outcomes and Immune Mechanisms in Murine Endothelial Versus Penetrating Keratoplasty.
Endothelial keratoplasty grafts survive longer than penetrating keratoplasty grafts in mice
Comparative Outcomes and Immune Mechanisms in Murine Endothelial Versus Penetrating Keratoplasty.
To compare graft survival and alloimmune responses in murine endothelial keratoplasty (endothelial keratoplasty) versus penetrating keratoplasty (penetrating keratoplasty) and to elucidate the immunological mechanisms that underlie the differential graft outcomes.
Allogeneic endothelial keratoplasty and penetrating keratoplasty were performed in BALB/c recipient mice using fully disparate C57BL/6 donors; syngeneic endothelial keratoplasty recipients served as controls.
endothelial keratoplasty grafts survived to 16 weeks, well above penetrating grafts
Anterior segment optical coherence tomography showed that corneal edema was highest in rejected penetrating keratoplasty grafts at 4 weeks and in rejected endothelial keratoplasty grafts at 16 weeks, with endothelial keratoplasty displaying a more gradual increase in thickness.
Flow cytometry revealed significantly greater frequencies of IFN-γ + CD4 + T cells in penetrating keratoplasty recipients compared with endothelial keratoplasty recipients ( P < 0.001).
ELISPOT assays demonstrated a more robust Th1 response in penetrating keratoplasty through both the direct and indirect sensitization pathways.
Endothelial keratoplasty grafts exhibit higher graft survival rates and significantly reduced activation of host T-cell responses compared with penetrating keratoplasty grafts, which may be attributed to lower frequencies of graft-borne antigen presenting cells, thus resulting in a milder Th1-mediated immune response.