Adherence and viability of porcine lens epithelial cells on three different IOL materials in vitro

The purpose of the study was to evaluate porcine lens epithelial cell (LEC) adhesion and viability on three different intraocular lens (IOL) materials. The IOL materials tested were poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA), silicone and hydrophobic acrylate. Primary porcine LECs were cultured on four discs of each material over a period of 10 days and, additionally, on six discs of the hydrophobic acrylate over a period of 20 days. Cells grown on untreated wells of a 96-well microtiter plate served as a control. Cell adhesion was photodocumentated on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 14,17 and 20. A cell viability test using the LIVE/DEAD kit (Molecular Probes) was carried out at the end of the investigation. Experiments were run in triplicate. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student's t-test. Confluent cell growth was reached on the hydrophobic acrylate discs and the control wells within 1 day and remained stable during the experiment. Only a few round cells were adherent on PMMA and silicone discs, and their number decreased during the experiment. After 10 days of culturing, the viability test (mean +/- SD) revealed 81.79 +/- 51.74% live cells on acrylate discs, which was not different from the control (105.83 +/- 21.78%, P=0.1589). Significantly lower relative numbers of live cells (P>0.0001) were found on PMMA (-0.62 +/- 2.24%) and silicone (21.47 +/- 8.42%) discs. The percentage of dead cells was significantly higher (P