Intracameral injection of limbal mesenchymal stem cells secretome alleviate inflammation with delayed structural recovery on corneal endothelial cells in phacoemulsified rabbit eyes

The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of intracameral injection of limbalmesenchymal stem cells (LMSCs) secretomeon corneal endothelial cells density and caspase-3 expression after exposure to phacoemulsification ultrasound energy in rabbits. Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits (n = 24 eyes) were randomly divided into 2 groups and exposed to phaco ultrasound. The control group was treated with intracameral injection of balanced salt solution (BSS), while intracameral injection of LMSCs secretome was utilized on the treatment group. Thereafter, the endothelial cells density was evaluated with specular microscopy before ultrasound exposure on the 3rd daywith the corneaused to evaluate theexpression of caspase-3 by immunohistochemistry staining. There were no signs of inflammation in both groups. However, exposure of ultrasound energy significantly reduced the corneal endothelial cell density in the control and treatment groups (-93.69 ± 139.04; p = 0.04 and -119.31 ± 85.41, p = 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the corneal endothelial cells density (p = 0.592) and caspase 3 expression after treatment for 3 days were indifferent in treatment group compared to control with p = 0.625; 2.17 ± 0.777 and 1.17 ± 0.322, respectively. Intracameral injection of LMSCs secretome tends to alleviate ocular inflammation, improved the profile of endothelial cells density and corneal caspase-3 expression in rabbit eyes after exposure to ultrasound energy-phacoemulsification.