Corneal epithelial cell bandage to treat persistent epithelial defect

角膜上皮细胞绷带治疗持续性上皮缺损

• 批准号: MR/Y019385/1
• 负责人: Hannah Levis
• 金额: $ 225.79万
• 依托单位: University of Liverpool
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FY019385%2F1
• 关键词: Corneal; epithelial; cell; bandage; treat

Corneal would healing is essential to maintain the integrity of the cornea. In a healthy eye, after an insult to the ocular surface, the epithelial defect is repaired by a complex re-epithelialisation process. Healing may be delayed or halted in compromised conditions leaving the underlying stroma vulnerable to further trauma, infiltrates, infection, scarring and perforation. A persistent epithelial defect is defined as a defect that is not resolved after 2 weeks of standard treatment. There are risk factors that confound corneal epithelial wound healing including diabetic keratopathy, limbal stem cell deficiency, dry eye disease, neurotrophic keratopathy and herpetic infection to name a few. The current treatments for persistent epithelial defect can include lubricating eye drops, punctal occlusion to provide a more lubricious environment, bandage contact lenses, serum, tarsorrhaphy or amniotic membrane transplant. Standard treatments tend to be ineffective, prolonging patient discomfort and diminished visual acuity. Due to the complex nature of the disease, patients must be examined multiple times a week, with some patients requiring up to 90 visits a year. The economic impact of this on health systems is substantial. We are developing an alternative treatment that involves transfer of corneal epithelial cells to the ocular surface directly via a soft contact lens. Our 'cell bandage' will enable rapid healing of the wound by the transplanted cells with the additional benefit provided by the contact lens element of the therapy of the protection from shearing forces that occur when blinking. We have proof of principle that the cell bandage functions to heal wounds in vitro but we need to test its effectiveness in a model using human eyes in the lab and its safety in a whole animal model. If the cell bandage provides favourable results we will continue to develop the product working with cell therapy manufacturers to determine a production method suitable for use in patients.

角膜将愈合对于维持角膜的完整性至关重要。在健康的眼睛中，在侮辱眼表面后，上皮缺陷通过复杂的再上皮过程修复。在受损的条件下，愈合可能会延迟或停止，使潜在的基质容易受到进一步的创伤，浸润，感染，疤痕和穿孔的影响。持续的上皮缺陷被定义为在标准治疗2周后未能解决的缺陷。有一些危险因素将角膜上皮伤口愈合混淆，包括糖尿病性角膜病变，边缘干细胞缺乏症，干眼症，神经营养性角膜病和疱疹感染，仅举几例。当前的持续上皮缺陷治疗方法包括润滑眼滴，鼻塞闭塞以提供更易润滑的环境，绷带隐形眼镜，血清，tarsorrhaphy或羊膜膜移植。标准治疗往往无效，延长患者的不适感和视力降低。由于疾病的复杂性，必须每周多次检查患者，其中一些患者每年需要90次就诊。这对卫生系统的经济影响很大。我们正在开发一种替代治疗方法，涉及将角膜上皮细胞直接通过软接触透镜转移到眼表。我们的“细胞绷带”将通过移植细胞的伤口快速愈合，并通过闪烁时的保护镜的隐形眼镜元素的治疗所提供的额外益处。我们有原则证明，细胞绷带在体外愈合伤口，但我们需要在实验室中的人眼中测试其在模型中的有效性及其在整个动物模型中的安全性。如果细胞绷带提供有利的结果，我们将继续开发与细胞疗法制造商一起工作的产品，以确定适合患者使用的生产方法。