[Effect of heparin on proliferation of cultivated bovine lens epithelial cells].

The treatments proposed to date for the prevention of secondary cataract have shown limited efficacy or have not been satisfactory due to ocular toxicity. Since it has been demonstrated that heparin can inhibit the proliferative activity of smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts in vitro and in vivo, we examined the effect of heparin at concentrations ranging from 20 to 200 micrograms/ml on the proliferation of cultured bovine lens epithelial cells (BLEC) under various culture conditions: (1) serum-free medium (SFM); (2) SFM + aqueous humor 1:1; (3) SFM +1 and 10% fetal calf serum; (4) SFM +1% retinal extract; (5) SFM +50 micrograms/ml endothelial cell growth factor; (6) SFM +10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor; (7) SFM +10 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor. Heparin caused no cytotoxic effects in any of the experiments. With medium 2 and 3, heparin caused dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation at concentrations ranging from 10 to 50 micrograms/ml. Cells cultivated in medium 4-7 with the addition of 50 micrograms/ml heparin revealed increased proliferative activity when compared with the corresponding controls. The antiproliferative activity on BLEC in medium containing aqueous humor suggests that heparin is a valuable tool for the prevention of secondary cataract in vivo.