ArticleExperimental eye research2017
Elastic microfibril distribution in the cornea: Differences between normal and keratoconic stroma.
Article in Experimental eye research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tear Film Inflammatory Biomarkers in Keratoconus: Insights into Disease Severity and Diagnostic Potential.Korean journal of ophthalmology : KJO · 2026Observational
- A novel optical sign in keratoconus: the Halo Sign and its clinical characteristics.BMC ophthalmology · 2026Observational
- Paired Opposite Clear Corneal Incision in Cataract Patients with Different Types of Astigmatism.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Incision of the pre-Descemet layer and Descemet membrane affects outflow facility:Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Construction and characteristics of an adjustable biomechanical in vitro corneal stromal model simulating keratoconus pathological features.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- The microenvironment of ocular surface in keratoconus: a systematic review.Eye and vision (London, England) · 2025Review
- Corneal enlargement in congenital glaucoma exhibits predominant peripheral corneal thinning.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Structural control of corneal transparency, refractive power and dynamics.Eye (London, England) · 2025Review
- Untargeted Tear Proteomics in a Large South-Asian Cohort Reveals Inflammatory Signaling, ECM Remodeling, and Altered Metabolism in Keratoconus.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Expression of extracellular matrix protein in advanced keratoconus and the normal human cornea.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Clinical anatomy: cornea and ocular surface.Medical hypothesis, discovery & innovation ophthalmology journal · 2025Review
- Keratoconus.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024Article
- A discrete-to-continuum model for the human cornea with application to keratoconus.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Review
- The Impaired Wound Healing Process Is a Major Factor in Remodeling of the Corneal Epithelium in Adult and Adolescent Patients With Keratoconus.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2023Article
- Elastin turnover in ocular diseases: A special focus on age-related macular degeneration.Experimental eye research · 2022Review
- A new method for the in vivo identification of degenerated material property ranges of the human eye: feasibility analysis based on synthetic data.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2022Article
- Decorin regulates collagen fibrillogenesis during corneal wound healing in mouse in vivo.Experimental eye research · 2022Article
- Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Inflammation Diminishes Cross-Linked Collagen Structures in an Experimental Rabbit Model of Corneal Cross-Linking.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- The Role of the Stromal Extracellular Matrix in the Development of Pterygium Pathology: An Update.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The optical and biomechanical properties of the cornea are largely governed by the collagen-rich stroma, a layer that represents approximately 90% of the total thickness. Within the stroma, the specific arrangement of superimposed lamellae provides the tissue with tensile strength, whilst the spatial arrangement of individual collagen fibrils within the lamellae confers transparency. In keratoconus, this precise stromal arrangement is lost, resulting in ectasia and visual impairment. In the normal cornea, we previously characterised the three-dimensional arrangement of an elastic fiber network spanning the posterior stroma from limbus-to-limbus. In the peripheral cornea/limbus there are elastin-containing sheets or broad fibers, most of which become microfibril bundles (MBs) with little or no elastin component when reaching the central cornea. The purpose of the current study was to compare this network with the elastic fiber distribution in post-surgical keratoconic corneal buttons, using serial block face scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We have demonstrated that the MB distribution is very different in keratoconus. MBs are absent from a region of stroma anterior to Descemet's membrane, an area that is densely populated in normal cornea, whilst being concentrated below the epithelium, an area in which they are absent in normal cornea. We contend that these latter microfibrils are produced as a biomechanical response to provide additional strength to the anterior stroma in order to prevent tissue rupture at the apex of the cone. A lack of MBs anterior to Descemet's membrane in keratoconus would alter the biomechanical properties of the tissue, potentially contributing to the pathogenesis of the disease.
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Registered trials
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