Effects of seawater on morphology in the retina of rabbits / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objiective To observe the morphological changes of rabbits' retina at different time points at which seawater was injected into the vitreous of rabbits. Methods Twenty-five New-Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned to five groups, as 30 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours group following the seawater injection in the vitreous. The right eyeball served as experimental eyeball and the left one as control in each group. 0.5ml artificial seawater was injected into the intermedius of rabbits right vitreous. 0.5ml balanced salt sdution was injected into the left vitreous in teh same way. At different time points following the eyeball injury, the morphological changes of retina were observed with light microscope and transmission electron microscope. Results The retina of control eyeballs had clear layers and regular cell shape in retinal structures with conventional staining. For the experimental eyeballs, the ganglion cell layer began to swelling after 30 minutes of seawater injection. The nerve fiber swelled obviously and the mitochondria vesiculated and swelled in the inner segment at 2 hours of seawater injection. The cell population of the inner nuclear layer began to reduce in 6 hours. At 12 hours of seawater injection, the retinal damages included disorganized cell nuclei, decreased cell population in ganglion cells and inner nuclear layer. Mitochondria vesiculated in photoreceptor cells, nuclear membrane shrank and sank inward. The vesiculation on inner and outer segments increased obviously. Conclusions Seawater may cause the morphological changes of rabbits' retina at early stage, and the histological damages become aggravation following the time prolongation. The damages would be unrecoverable 6 to 12 hours after seawater injury.