Neurotrophic keratitis represents a complex degeneration of the cornea that can result in debilitating symptoms and serious sight-threatening complications. Patients with neurotrophic keratitis (NK) usually present with a history of corneal injury or past surgical intervention involving damage to the corneal nerves; as well as, chronic ocular surface disease. This nerve damage results in sensory loss and poor healing to the corneal tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Oxidative damage is a major factor causing cataracts, which account for almost half of human blindness cases worldwide. In this study, we wished to determine if overexpression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in intact lenses could prevent cataract formation induced by oxidative stress.
Methods: Fresh, intact lenses from 6-week-old male/female Sprague Dawley rats were incubated with plasmid DNA encoding the human SOD1 (Cu/Zn-SOD) gene at 37 degrees C in a CO2 cell culture chamber with 95% air and 5% CO2.