Effects of penetrating cornea injury combined with seawater immersion on the levels of aqueous humor TNF-α in rabbits

Objective To observe effects of penetrating cornea injury combined with seawater immersion on the levels of aqueous humor TNF-α in rabbits. Methods 10 adult healthy grey rabbits were used for the experiment. The rabbit eye model of comea blast injury was developed by using a single firecracker. For each rabbit, the right eye was the experimental eye (seawater was injected into the anterior chamber through the cornea incision, simulating seawater immersion) and the left eye was the control (treated with 0.9% sodium chloride). Levels of aqueous humor TNF-α were detected by using double-antibody sandwich ELISA on the 1st, 2nd, yrd, 4th, 5th, and 7th days following seawater immersion or 0.9% sodium chloride injection. Results Following development of the model, levels of aqueous humor TNF-α in the experimental eye on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd days were 190.338, 156. 107,117.018 ng/L respectively, and significant differences could be seen when comparisous were made between the experimental and control eyes. The level of aqueous humor TNF-α on the 1st day was the highest and obviously reached the peak. Conclusions Level of aqueous humor TNF-α in the experimental eye with penetrating cornea injury combined with seawater immersion was significantly higher than that of the control eye, indicating that TNF-α was clearly involved in the pathological change and it played an important role in the process.