MITOTIC AND WOUND-HEALING ACTIVITIES OF THE CORNEAL EPITHELIUM

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Abstract
THE CLINICAL phenomenon of so-called neuroparalytic keratitis has commonly been assumed to be the expression of some trophic disturbance in the cornea consequent upon sensory denervation of this tissue. The fact that the catastrophic events of such keratitis can be avoided by blepharoplasty and the prevention of the cornea from drying does not disprove such a trophic influence. The purpose of the present study was to see whether neuroparalytic keratitis could be produced experimentally in animals and to find out whether after sensory denervation there was any change in the mitotic or wound-healing activities of the corneal epithelium. Keratitis following injury to the trigeminal nerve has been reported by Zander and Weddell1 in experiments on rabbits and monkeys and by Kotlyarevskaya2 in cats. The latter author claims to have produced bilateral lesions following unilateral Gasserian ganglion injuries. In neither of these studies was the influence of sensory denervation