Morphology of endothelial cells from different regions of the cornea of dogs

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphology of endothelial cells from different areas of the cornea of dogs. Twenty healthy eyes from 10 dogs, females or males, of different ages were studied. Corneal endothelium morphology of superior, inferior, central, nasal and temporal areas was assessed by 0.2% alizarin red staining using an optic microscope. One hundred endothelial cells from each corneal area were analyzed. In all areas of the cornea studied were found endothelial cells with four sides, five sides, six sides and seven sides. There was no significant difference regarding endothelial cell morphology in all corneal regions evaluated. Thus, the morphology of the central cornea area represents the entire endothelial mosaic and may be applied to peripheral areas. Therefore, analysis of the central area is sufficient to estimate the shape of endothelial cells of peripheral areas of healthy dog corneas.摘要：本研究旨在评估犬角膜不同区域内皮细胞的形态特征。本研究纳入10只不同年龄段的健康犬（雌雄不限）的20只健康眼开展研究。采用0.2%茜素红染色法结合光学显微镜，对犬角膜上方、下方、中央、鼻侧及颞侧区域的角膜内皮形态进行观测。对每个角膜区域的100个内皮细胞进行分析。在所观测的所有角膜区域中，均发现具有四边形、五边形、六边形及七边形形态的内皮细胞。各观测角膜区域的内皮细胞形态无显著差异。由此可见，角膜中央区域的内皮形态可代表完整的内皮镶嵌结构，且可推广至周边区域。综上，仅需对中央区域进行分析，即可估算健康犬角膜周边区域的内皮细胞形态。