ACCELERATION OF CORNEAL WOUND-HEALING IN DIABETIC RATS BY THE ANTIOXIDANT TROLOX

Several corneal complications have been reported in patients with long standing diabetes, but their exact pathogenesis is not well understoo d. It has been observed that the rate of epithelial wound healing in d iabetic rats is delayed compared to those in normal animals. Here we p resent the effect of the free radial scavenger, Trolox, a water solubl e vitamin E analogue, on epithelial wound healing in diabetic rat corn ea. Three groups of rats were included: 1) normal, 2) diabetic, 3) dia betic + Trolox. After 3 months, rats were sacrificed and corneas remov ed. Standard 3 mm diameter corneal epithelial defects were made and re sidual epithelial defects were measured after 18 hours at 37 degrees C in a sterile cell culture incubator. Wound healing data measured in m m(2) was used for statistical analysis. There were significantly large r (p < 0.05) epithelial defects in diabetic corneas as compared to con trol. Treatment with Trolox antioxidant in diabetic rats produced a si gnificantly smaller (p < 0.05) epithelial defect than that of untreate d diabetic rats. These studies suggest the involvement of free radical s in the delay of corneal epithelial wound healing in diabetes.