Methods of Assessment of the Corneas of the Eyes Laboratory Rabbits Exposed to Solar Ultraviolet-B Radiation

摘要

The goal of this review was to identify and discuss the specialized methods that have been used to assess the corneas of the eyes of living rabbits exposed to the damaging effects of ultraviolet-B (UV-B). From publications reviewed between 1916 and 2018, both albino and pigmented rabbits were used, usually being young adults weighing between 2 and 2.5 kg, and with many recent studies carried out under sedation. Older assessments were generally based on the use of in vivo slitlamp examinations, sometimes with the use of fluorescein or rose bengal to identify damaged cells, supported by light microscopy (histology) of excised corneas. In later years (after 1960), these structural studies have included in vivo and ex vivo specular microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy as well as impression cytology. Early studies included measurements of the thickness of excised corneal specimens but in vivo pachymetry methods were widely used from the 1980s. Other assessments have included measurement of light transmission spectra of excised corneas, measures of metabolites in isolated corneas or staining corneal specimens for enzyme activities. While a wide range of specialized methods have been used, most of them have provided only descriptions of the effects of UV-B.