Morphology of bovine corneal endothelial cells obtained  with alizarin red and optical microscopy

Natália Méndez; Mariane Gallicchio Azevedo; Luísa Soares Cargnin; Maiara Poersch Seibel; Alessandra Fernandez da Silva; Maria Eduarda Mattos Franceschini; Rafaela Silva Rocha; João Antonio Tadeu Pigatto

doi:10.1590/1809-6891v25e-77041E

Authors

Natália Méndez Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2530-1582
Mariane Gallicchio Azevedo Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8912-1436
Luísa Soares Cargnin Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6542-0324
Maiara Poersch Seibel Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5295-4979
Alessandra Fernandez da Silva Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8858-5207
Maria Eduarda Mattos Franceschini Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6705-2740
Rafaela Silva Rocha Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8856-8239
João Antonio Tadeu Pigatto Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1541-9133

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-6891v25e-77041E

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the endothelial cell morphology in the different regions of healthy bovine corneal endothelium using optical microscopy. Twenty eyeballs from 10 male Brangus cattle, aged 24 months, were studied. The corneal endothelium was stained with the vital dye alizarin red and then examined with an optical microscope and photographed. Thirty endothelial cells from each corneal region were included in the analysis. Endothelial cell morphology was analysed in the central, superior, inferior, lateral and medial regions of the cornea. Comparisons between regions were performed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Differences were considered statistically significant at P < 0.05. Normal endothelial cells were mainly hexagonal (83.7%), pentagonal (7.45%) and heptagonal (8.8%), with a minimal number of cells of other shapes present. No statistical differences were observed in the endothelial cell morphology when comparing different regions of the cornea. Regarding endothelial cell morphology, there were no differences between the corneal regions.

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