Corneal healing involves a complex interaction of multiple proteinases, growth factors, and cytokines, which coordinate cell death, migration, proliferation, and differentiation, as well as extracellular matrix remodeling. 1 To maintain the corneal stroma's collagen and proteoglycan structure following ulceration, an equilibrium between

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of bovine amniotic membrane homogenate (BAMH) on wounded ex vivo rabbit corneas. Procedure Eighteen corneas obtained from normal rabbit eyes were wounded equally using a 6 mm trephine and cultured into an air‐liquid interface model. Corneas were treated with phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) (n = 6, control group), 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; n = 6), or BAMH (n = 6). All treatments were applied topically 6 times/day. Each cornea was macrophotographed daily with and without fluorescein stain to assess epithelialization and haziness. After 7 days, corneal transparency was evaluated, and the tissues prepared for histologic analysis of viability, and total and epithelial thickness. Results The mean epithelialization time was 6.2 ± 0.82 days for the control group, 6.2 ± 0.75 days for the EDTA‐treated group, and 5.1 ± 0.40 days for the BAMH‐treated group, demonstrating a significant difference between the BAMH and the other groups. The corneas that received EDTA had better transparency compared with the other groups. Histologically, all corneas had adequate morphology and architecture after healing. Analysis of corneal and epithelial thickness revealed no significant difference among groups. Conclusion Bovine amniotic membrane homogenate is an effective and promising treatment for stromal and epithelial ulcers.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common cancer affecting the equine eye. A missense variant within the gene damage-specific DNA binding protein 2 (DDB2 c.1013C>T, p.Thr338Met) was previously identified as a causal recessive genetic risk factor for the development of ocular SCC within Haflingers, Belgian Draft horses, and Rocky Mountain Horses, but not in the Appaloosa or Arabian breeds. This study aimed to evaluate three cases of ocular SCC in additional breeds and determine if DNA testing for the DDB2 variant in warmblood horses and Connemara ponies is warranted. Histopathology confirmed ocular SCC in all three cases and DNA testing confirmed each horse was homozygous for the DDB2 risk factor. The DDB2 risk allele frequency was estimated to be 0.0043 for Holsteiners (N = 115), 0.014 for Belgian Warmbloods (N = 71), and 0.22 for Connemara Ponies (N = 86). Taken together these data support using DNA testing for DDB2 in Connemara Ponies to assist in mate selection and clinical management. Given the low observed allele frequencies in both the Holsteiner and Belgian Warmblood breeds and that the case under investigation was a warmblood cross-bred, evaluating additional SCC affected warmbloods is warranted to fully determine the importance of DDB2 genotyping as a risk factor in warmblood breeds.

Purpose To investigate the protein profile of bovine amniotic membranes (bAM) and to determine putative associations between protein composition in bAM and known corneal healing pathways. Methods The bAM were acquired from normal full-term births ( n = 10), processed, and stored at −80°C for two days. Subsequently, the frozen membranes were thawed at room temperature and prepared for proteomic exploration using high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, followed by bioinformatics analysis. Recently identified corneal healing pathways were contrasted with protein profiles and pathways present in bAM. Results The analyses identified 2105 proteins, with an interactive network of 1271 nodes (proteins) and 8757 edges (interactions). The proteins with higher betweenness centrality measurements include microfibril-associated protein 4, HSD3B1, CAPNS1, ATP1B3, CAV1, ANXA2, YARS, and GAPDH. The top four pathways in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were ribosome, metabolic pathway, spliceosome, and oxidative phosphorylation. The bAM and cornea shared abundant proteins, genome ontology, and signaling pathways. Conclusions The high-throughput proteomic profile of the bAM demonstrated that numerous proteins present in the cornea are also present in this fetal membrane. Our findings collectively demonstrate the similarity between bAM and the cornea's protein composition, supporting our hypothesis that bAM can be used to treat corneal diseases.