Experimental evaluation of the efficacy of tissue-engineered constructs in the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency

作者：A.Y. Andreev, Yang Yu, O. S. Rogovaya, А.М. Суббот, Е. A. Vorotelyak, E. O Osidak, Avetisov Sé · 发表于：Russian Annals of Ophthalmology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.17116/oftalma202414002280 · 研究领域：Corneal Surgery and Treatments、Corneal surgery and disorders、Retinal and Macular Surgery

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is one of the leading factors negatively affecting the success of keratoplasty, and its treatment remains an urgent problem in ophthalmology. With the development of regenerative medicine, one of the promising approaches is the transplantation of tissue-engineered constructs from cultured limbal stem cells (LSCs) in biopolymer carriers. Purpose. This study was conducted to develop an experimental model of LSCD and evaluate the effectiveness of transplantation of a tissue-engineered construct consisting of cultured cells containing a population of LSCs and a collagen carrier. Material and methods. The study was performed on 12 rabbits and included several stages. At the first stage, the physiological effects of collagen matrix implantation into the limbal zone were studied. At the second stage, tissue-engineered constructs consisting of LSCs on a collagen matrix were formed and their effect on the regeneration processes in the experimental LSCD model was analyzed. The animals were divided into 2 groups: surgical treatment (transplantation of the tissue-engineered construct) was used in the experimental group, and conservative treatment was used in the control group. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with photo-registration, fluorescein corneal staining, optical coherence tomography of the anterior segment of the eye, and impression cytology were used to assess the results. Results. No side reactions were observed after implantation of the collagen matr...