Animal study on expression of laminin and fibronectin in cornea during wound healing following alkali burn

Objective: To observe the expression of laminin and fibronectin in alkali-burned corneas in rats.Methods: A total of 18 normal Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (n=3 in each group). For each rat, one eye was injured by alkali burn, the other one was taken as the normal control. Then all the corneas were surgically removed and the expression of laminin and fibronectin was observed with immunohistochemistry respectively at 7 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days and 28 days after alkali burn. Results: Compared with that of the normal controls, the expression of laminin and fibronectin of the burned eyes was dramatically higher at 7 hours, reached peak at 14 days and decreased to the normal level at 28 days after alkali burn. Conclusions: In the process of wound healing after alkali burn, the expression of laminin and fibronectin increases dramatically, which suggests that laminin and fibronectin may participate in the process of corneal wound healing.