ADHERENCE OF HUMAN LENS EPITHELIAL-CELLS TO CONVENTIONAL POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE), HEPARIN-SURFACE-MODIFIED, AND POLYHEMA LENSES

We developed an in vitro model to assess the adherence of human lens e pithelial cells to three types of intraocular lenses: poly(methyl meth acrylate) (PMMA), heparin-surface-modified PMMA (HSM-PMMA), and polyHe ma. Lenses were incubated with a fixed number of human lens epithelial cells. Adherent cells were counted after 72 hours in culture. Scannin g electron microscopy showed significantly fewer cells adhering to the HSM-PMMA and polyHema lenses than to the PMMA lenses (P <.01). Repeat experiments on cell lines established from different donors confirmed these findings.