Prolonged Localized Tissue Effects From 5-Minute Exposures to Fluorouracil and Mitomycin C

TLDR

In a rabbit glaucoma filtering surgery model, 5‑minute exposures to distilled water, fluorouracil (50 mg/mL), or mitomycin C (0.4 mg/mL) were applied, and biopsies from treated and adjacent tissues were cultured to assess fibroblast outgrowth over time. Fluorouracil produced a reversible ~1‑week delay in fibroblast outgrowth, whereas mitomycin C caused at least 30‑day inhibition, with both effects confined to the treated region.

Abstract

Rabbits undergoing full-thickness glaucoma filtering surgery were exposed for 5 minutes to one of three intraoperative treatments: (1) distilled water; (2) fluorouracil, 50 mg/mL; or (3) mitomycin C, 0.4 mg/mL. Tissue samples were taken from the subconjunctival and scleral tissues at the treated area and 90 degrees and 180 degrees from the center of the treated area and the adjacent cornea 2 mm from the limbus, 1 hour, 5 days, and 30 days postoperatively. The biopsy specimens were then placed in tissue culture media and the fibroblast outgrowths measured. Five-minute intraoperative treatments with fluorouracil resulted in a reversible delay of fibroblast outgrowths from treated subconjunctival and scleral tissues of just over 1 week in this model, whereas treatment with mitomycin C, 0.4 mg/mL, resulted in prolonged inhibition of at least 30 days. These effects were localized to the area treated. The many clinical implications of these findings are discussed.