Influence of Emulsification on Silicone Oil Additive Effects on Rabbit Corneal Endothelial Permeability

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that emulsification of a pure silicone oil had little influence on rabbit corneal endothelial permeability to inulin or dextran. Several compounds, known to be present in some impure silicone oils, increase corneal endothelial permeability measured in vitro after presentation to the endothelium in vivo for 1 week. Because emulsification vastly increases the surface area to volume relationship of an oil and offers a shorter diffusion distance to the oil surface/aqueous humor interface, there is a greater opportunity for loss of oil constituents into the local environment. Experiments were performed, therefore, to determine whether emulsification of oils containing specific additives gave a greater permeability increase than when the additive was included in nonemulsified oil. The results indicate that emulsification does not necessarily enhance the capacity of every additive to increase corneal endothelial permeability although this can occur. It is apparent that suffici...