Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Corneal stromal fibroblasts cultured in vitro can recognize lipopolysaccharide, the main constituent of gram-negative bacterial cell wall, and release varied cytokines and chemotactic factors, which facilitate leukocytic infiltration and promote formation of corneal ulcer.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of bacterial lipopolysacchride on the secretion of human corneal stromal fibroblasts.
METHODS: Human corneal stromal cells were cultured in vitro, and the 3-5 generations were selected for the experiment. The levels of interleukin 1, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 6 and interleukin 8 in supernatant of corneal stromal fibroblasts were determined by ELISA prior to and after adding lipopolysaccharide.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In a certain range of mass concentration and action times, lipopolysaccharide had no effect on survival rate of human corneal stromal fibroblasts. No interleukin 1 and tumor necrosis factor α were expressed in the cultured human corneal stromal fibroblasts. However, interleukin 6 and interleukin 8 were slightly expressed in human corneal stromal fibroblasts without lipopolysaccharide. At 24 hours after adding lipopolysaccharide (100 μg/L), the levels of interleukin 6 and interleukin 8 were increased obviously.