[The metabolism of organ cultures of cornea in TC 199 with added dextran 500 or hydroxyethyl starch 450].

Pig corneas were stored at room temperature for 20 days in TC 199 culture medium supplemented with 10% pig blood serum, antibiotics, and to reduce swelling with 10% Dextran 500 or 10% hydroxyethyl starch HAES 450. The high molecular weight of these additions, 500,000 and 450,000 Daltons respectively, prohibited swelling by their osmotic pressure. The water content of the cultured corneas was 80.6 +/- 0.5% with HAES 450 and 76.4 +/- 2.0% with Dextran 500. The epithelial cells of the cultured cornea rounded and desquamated after 12 to 16 days of culture. The endothelium showed vacuoles. The metabolism of the cultured corneas was measured by glucose and lactate levels in the epithelium, the stroma, and the medium as well as by the glycogen, ATP, and ADP content in the corneal epithelium. The cultured corneas consumed reasonable amounts of glucose and produced lactate. The glycogen content and the ATP levels decreased slightly, but the ATP/ADP ratio showed a good energy state. In the cultures containing HAES 450 the entire system was flooded with glucose released from hydroxyethyl starch. The Dextran 500 culture system could prove suitable for culturing human donor material without swelling.