LOSS OF CORNEAL LANGERHANS CELLS DURING STORAGE IN ORGAN-CULTURE MEDIUM, OPTISOL AND MCCAREY-KAUFMAN MEDIUM

Purpose This study compares the influence of different corneal preserv ation media on HLADR positive corneal Langerhans cells (LCs). Methods Using fluorescence-associated immunohistochemistry, corneal sections w ere stained for HLA-DR antigens after preserving corneal-scleral discs in three different storage media: organ culture medium, Optisol and M cCarey-Kaufman medium. HLA-DR positive LCs were present in corneal epi thelium and upper stroma of fresh corneas. Results A storage period of even 3 days had a significant influence on the number oi: HLA-DR posi tive corneal LCs, Tile number of LCs decreased at the limbus Prom 15.3 +/- 4.1 LCs/ 0.25 mm(2) to 11.8 +/- 1.2 LCs/0.25 mm(2) (p<0.01) durin g preservation in McCarey-Kaufman medium, to 11.2 +/- 1.9 LCs/0.25mm(2 ) (p<0.01) during preservation in organ culture medium and to 127 +/- 3.4 LCs/0.25 mm(2) (p<0.01) during preservation in Optisol, A greater loss was detected after 7 days and we found a cell number of 1.6 +/- 1 .1 LCs/0.25 mm(2) (p<0.001) after storage in organ culture medium and of 1.4 +/- 1.5 LCs/0.25 mm(2) (p<0.001 after storage in Optisol, The d onor tissues entirely lacked HLADR positive LCs, regardless of the pre servation medium used, when stored for up to 14 days.Conclusion These results demonstrate that loss of HLA-DR; antigens Is mainly related to storage period and is independent of the type of preservation medium and preservation temperature.