Comparison of hydrophilic ophthalmic media on silicone oil emulsification

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 19;15(6):e0235067. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235067. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how the biological media which are in contact with silicone oil play a role in the silicone emulsification process. Commercially available Oxane 1300 silicone oil and potential hydrophilic phases of the emulsions in the eye (porcine aqueous humor, porcine vitreous and balanced salt solution) were investigated separately and in a mixture or emulsions by means of surface tension, rheological, zeta potential measurements and microscopic investigation. The surface tension of biological media (vitreous and aqueous humor) was significantly lower than that of non-biological media, especially in the case of aqueous humor, which indicates a remarkable emulsification tendency with these phases. The biological media are able to form both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, which can be observed in the clinical practice as well. It was established that the vitreous has a more expressed emulsification ability compared with the aqueous humor because smaller and more stable droplets can form with silicon oil when the vitreous is still there. It can be concluded that the vitreous has a higher impact on emulsification than the aqueous medium, which can predict that the vitreous remaining after vitrectomy has a key role in emulsion formation in the eye with silicone oil endotamponade.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aqueous Humor / chemistry*
  • Emulsions
  • Isotonic Solutions / chemistry*
  • Rheology
  • Silicone Oils / chemistry*
  • Surface Tension
  • Swine
  • Vitrectomy / methods
  • Vitreous Body / chemistry*

Substances

  • Emulsions
  • Hanks Balanced Salt Solution
  • Isotonic Solutions
  • Silicone Oils

Grants and funding

The publication was supported by The University of Szeged Open Access Fund (Fund Ref, Grant No. 4520) The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.