Purpose: To use light microscopy to evaluate the presence and distribution of cells that proliferate on the outer surface of the anterior capsule after experimental lens extraction in rabbit eyes.
Setting: Research Laboratory, Department of Ophthalmology, Wakayama Medical College, Wakayama, Japan.
Methods: Extracapsular lens extraction, with or without implantation of a poly(methyl methacrylate) intraocular lens, was performed in 10 adult albino rabbits under general anesthesia. Animals were killed 1 month postoperatively. Each eye was embedded in paraffin and examined by light microscopy.
Results: A capsular bag composed of the anterior and posterior capsules was observed. Mononuclear cells, presumed to be lens epithelial cells (LECs), had proliferated in the space between the capsules as well as on the outer surface of the anterior capsules, in association with an accumulation of extracellular matrix.
Conclusion: After lens extraction, LECs migrated to and proliferated on the anterior surface of the anterior capsule.