Purpose: To study the ability of Homoharringtonine (Hh), 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu), and Adriamycin (ADM) on inhibiting the proliferation of rabbit lens epithelium.
Methods: Whole rabbit lenses were removed from freshly enucleated eyes under sterile condition. The rabbit lens epithelia (RLE) were isolated and cultured: (1) The passage RLE were placed in 24-well tissue culture plates and incubated for 48 hours, then exposed to different concentrations of Hh, 5-Fu, and ADM for 24 and 72 hours; (2) The passage RLE and Hh (0.084 microgram/ml), 5-Fu (0.058 microgram/ml), ADM (0.45ng/ml) were placed and cultured for 24 hours; (3) The morphological changes of RLE exposed to different concentrations of Hh, 5-Fu and ADM were studied under light microscope.
Results: The ID50 of Hh, 5-Fu and ADM exposed to RLE for 24 hours were 0.84 microgram/ml, 0.58 microgram/ml and 4.50ng/ml, respectively, and those for 72 hours were 0.49 microgram/ml, 0.33 microgram/ml and 3.85ng/ml. The attachment rate of RLE after being cultured for 24 hours with Hh, 5-Fu and ADM were respectively 83.6%, 89.1% and 87.3%. The morphological changes of RLE demonstrated that obvious changes in the cell membrane and cytoplasm were found even in lower concentration, but changes in the nuclei could only be found in higher concentration of these drugs.
Conclusion: Hh can not only inhibit the proliferation of RLE but also reduce the number of attached cells. It is suggested that Hh may be more useful for the prevention of after cataract than 5-Fu and ADM.