Quantitation of Inflammation in the Cornea

Abstract

Corneal inflammation, produced by direct interlamellar injection of clove oil, is histologically characterized primarily by polymorphonuclear leukocytic infiltration of the stroma. The polymorphonuclear leukocytes can be radiolabelled with tritiated thymidine systemically prior to their invasion of the cornea. A measure of the number of labelled polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the cornea can then be obtained by scintillation counting techniques, which provides an objective method for quantitating the degree of inflammation in the cornea.