Seawater immersion exacerbates the pathological changes caused by incisive corneal injury in rabbit eyes

BACKGROUND: Seawater immersion complicates injuries suffered during maritime conflicts and eye injury is one of most common injuries on the battlefield. This study aimed to delineate the pathophysiological changes in the cornea after corneal injury combined with seawater immersion. METHODS: The left eye of New Zealand White rabbits was injured with firecracker and a 3-mm long whole-layer incision in the center of the cornea parallel to the corneal limbus, followed by seawater immersion. The right eye was used as a control. The histology of the cornea and the inflammatory cytokine/chemokine levels in the aqueous humor were examined on days 1 and 7 after injury. The protein levels of aquaporin 1, 3, and 5 were assessed by immunohistochemical staining 7 days after injury. The expression and activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) were examined by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Seawater immersion exacerbated penetrating explosive injury caused progressive tissue damage of the cornea and ocular inflammation, with drastic increases in the expression of cytokines/chemokines in the aqueous humor, which was mediated by the upregulation and activation of NF-κB. Furthermore, corneal protein levels of aquaporin 1, 3, and 5 were significantly increased after incisive injury and seawater immersion. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrated that the combination of incisive injury and seawater immersion is a dangerous situation and effective care strategies should be developed for the management of such maritime injuries.