Bilateral and Age-dependent Differences in Posterior Capsule Opacification in Vivo Compared to an In-vitro Mode

Cataract, the clouding of the eye's lens, is still the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Until now surgery is the only therapy available for the disease. Cataract surgery is nowadays considered a safe and efficient therapy. However, one of the most frequent complications of cataract surgery is posterior capsule opacification (PCO), which results in diminished postoperative visual acuity. PCO occurs due to a robust wound-healing response, where remaining lens epithelial cells in the capsular bag start to migrate and proliferate.

The lens capsule is divided into an anterior, an equatorial, and a posterior region. The anterior and the equatorial region consist of a single layer of cuboidal epithelial cells, whilst the posterior region is formed of fibers. In the adult lens proliferation occurs almost exclusively in the equatorial region and although the central part of the lens epithelium exhibits very low mitotic activity, it was shown in experiments that cell in this area are also stem cells. There are three possible reasons for the generation of PCO: intraoperative factors (dependening on the amount of remaining cells in the capsular bag), intraocular lens factors, and interpersonal factor (patient-specific factors).

Aim of this study is the generation of an in-vitro model of posterior capsule opacification. Therefore, the investigators will analyse the proliferative capacity of lens epithelial cells on the lens capsule, which is removed during cataract surgery, in a cell culture model. The investigators then compare the proliferative capacity between young and old patients, between both eyes of the same patient, and in different forms of cataract.