Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Original Paper Eur Surg Res 2007;39:82–87 DOI: 10.1159/000099147 Effect of Cytochrome c Peroxidase on the Corneal Epithelial Healing Process after Excimer Laser Photo-Ablation in Transgenic Mice L. Scorolli A. Meduri M. Morara S.Z. Scalinci R.A. Meduri Department of Pathophysiological Optics, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy chrome c peroxidase eye drops healed completely before day 5 after surgery, with a mean re-epithelialization time of 92 8 (SD) 10 h; the mean re-epithelialization time was 121 8 8 h in the eyes receiving placebo (p ! 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in corneal haze presentation during the follow-up period (p = 0.70), perhaps because the observation period was too short (7 days). However, the corneal clarity, on slit lamp bio- microscopy, in the study group was higher than that in the control group. No side effects or toxic effects were observed. Conclusions: These data suggest that cytochrome c peroxi- dase significantly accelerates epithelial healing after photo- therapeutic keratectomy. Further clinical studies should be performed to prove the results obtained in this study and the long-term efficacy of cytochrome c peroxidase to pre- vent corneal haze. Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is the application of energy in the ultraviolet range (193 nm wavelength), generated by an argon fluoride excimer laser, to the ante- rior corneal stroma to reshape its curvature and thus cor- rect a refractive error (myopia, astigmatism, and, more Key Words Cytochrome c peroxidase  Corneal wound healing  Excimer laser photo-ablation  Transgenic mice, excimer laser photo-ablation  Refractive surgery, re-epithelialization Abstract Aim: To evaluate the role of commercially prepared cyto- chrome c peroxidase eye drops in corneal epithelial healing of transgenic B6(A)-Rpe65rd12/J mice after excimer laser photo-ablation. Materials and Methods: In our prospective animal series, 72 eyes of 36 mice had uneventful bilateral ex- cimer laser photo-ablation. In each mouse, one eye received standard topical postoperative therapy with tobramycin, di- clofenac, and dexamethasone eye drops plus cytochrome c peroxidase eye drops (two drops three times a day for 1 week or until corneal re-epithelialization was complete, corre- sponding to 15,000 IU/day). The fellow eye served as the con- trol and received standard postoperative therapy plus pla- cebo. The mice were monitored daily, commencing on the day after surgery, for 7 days to evaluate the corneal re-epi- thelialization rate using a video slit lamp camera with cobalt blue light. The mean diameter of the corneal wounds was measured. Videotaped images were recorded and analyzed by computer planimetry. Results: All eyes treated with cyto- Received: September 8, 2006 Accepted after revision: November 17, 2006 Published online: February 1, 2007 Lucia Scorolli, MD Via Zuccardi Merli, 1 IT–40141 Bologna (Italy) Tel. +39 051 440 822, Fax +39 051 470 627 E-Mail luciascorolli@yahoo.it © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel 0014–312X/07/0392–0082$23.50/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/esr