Sustained scleral stiffening in rats after a single genipin treatment. Issue 159 (16th October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hannon, Bailey G.; Schwaner, Stephen A.; Boazak, Elizabeth M.; Gerberich, Brandon G.; Winger, Erin J.; Prausnitz, Mark R.; Ethier, C. Ross
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Royal Society interface. Volume 16:Issue 159(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-10-16
• Subjects: glaucoma -- myopia -- stiffening -- genipin -- collagen-crosslinking -- sclera; Physical sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Interdisciplinary research -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0427
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-5689

Abstract

Abstract : Scleral stiffening has been proposed as a therapy for glaucoma and myopia. Previous in vivo studies have evaluated the efficacy of scleral stiffening after multiple treatments with a natural collagen crosslinker, genipin. However, multiple injections limit clinical translatability. Here, we examined whether scleral stiffening was maintained after four weeks following a single genipin treatment. Eyes from brown Norway rats were treated in vivo with a single 15 mM genipin retrobulbar injection, sham retrobulbar injection, or were left naive. Eyes were enucleated either 1 day or four weeks post-injection and underwent whole globe inflation testing. We assessed first principal Lagrange strain of the posterior sclera using digital image correlation as a proxy for scleral stiffness. Four weeks post-injection, genipin treatment resulted in a 58% reduction in scleral strain as compared to controls ( p = 0.005). We conclude that a single in vivo injection of genipin effectively stiffened rat sclera for at least four weeks which motivates further functional studies and possible clinical translation of genipin-induced scleral stiffening.