Abstract
There are few reports that describe the physiological changes in a vein graft used
to reconstruct lacrimal canaliculus. This article aims to observe the phasic changes
in cell proliferation in an autogenous vein graft used to repair the lacrimal canaliculus.
Lacrimal canaliculus disjunction was made in a rabbit model by transecting one side
of the lacrimal canaliculus. The injury was repaired using an autogenous ear vein
graft. Phasic changes in cell proliferation were observed using reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry for the expression of proliferating
cell nuclear antigen in the grafted vein segment. At 3 days postoperative, cell proliferation
in the grafted vein segment became active, peaking at 7 days postoperative. Cell proliferation
became stable in the epithelium, but remained active in the subepithelial connective
tissue at 28 days postoperative. The phasic changes in cell proliferation in the autogenous
vein graft were consistent with a normal wound healing response.
Keywords
autogenous vein graft - canaliculus repair - cell proliferation - rabbit model
