Heme Oxygenase-2 as a novel target to treat inflammation and chronic neuropathic pain associated with corneal injury and surgery
type: CreativeWork
description: Corneal refractive surgery aims at correcting alteration of the shape of the cornea correlated with myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. More than 12 million patients have undergone refractive surgery since it was approved (see http://www. laser-eye-surgery statistics.com/). Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) are the most used techniques to perform experimental corneal surgery. Several studies demonstrated that after epithelial removal (first step of refractive surgery) an inflammatory response arises and corneal subbasal nerve density does not recover for up to five years. Furthermore, the number of stromal nerves decreases by nearly 90% after LASIK leading to possible complications. One of the most notable adverse effects of refractive surgery correlated with the trans-section of basal nerve, is pain, which typically occurs within the first 72 h after surgery. Topical ocular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has demonstrated efficacy in controlling pain after surgery and they are commonly used during the postoperative period. However, some studies reported delayed epithelial wound healing as most notable side effect following topic administration of this class of drugs. During the inflammatory response the epithelial cells activate a series of endogenous protective mechanisms in the attempt to reduce and/or limitate the propagation of the inflammatory response. Among these mechanisms, the heme oxygenases systems seem to play a major role. In the recent years the heme oxygenase system (HO-1 and HO-2) has emerged as a fundamental endogenous cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory system in many tissues. It is readily upregulated in response to injury and its activity (heme degradation to bilirubin an carbon monoxide) attenuates tissue damage with significant reductions in inflammatory events including leukocyte adhesion and migration, and production of inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore HO has been shown to pr…
abstract: Corneal refractive surgery aims at correcting alteration of the shape of the cornea correlated with myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. More than 12 million patients have undergone refractive surgery since it was approved (see http://www. laser-eye-surgery statistics.com/). Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) are the most used techniques to perform experimental corneal surgery. Several studies demonstrated that after epithelial removal (first step of refractive surgery) an inflammatory response arises and corneal subbasal nerve density does not recover for up to five years. Furthermore, the number of stromal nerves decreases by nearly 90% after LASIK leading to possible complications. One of the most notable adverse effects of refractive surgery correlated with the trans-section of basal nerve, is pain, which typically occurs within the first 72 h after surgery. Topical ocular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has demonstrated efficacy in controlling pain after surgery and they are commonly used during the postoperative period. However, some studies reported delayed epithelial wound healing as most notable side effect following topic administration of this class of drugs. During the inflammatory response the epithelial cells activate a series of endogenous protective mechanisms in the attempt to reduce and/or limitate the propagation of the inflammatory response. Among these mechanisms, the heme oxygenases systems seem to play a major role. In the recent years the heme oxygenase system (HO-1 and HO-2) has emerged as a fundamental endogenous cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory system in many tissues. It is readily upregulated in response to injury and its activity (heme degradation to bilirubin an carbon monoxide) attenuates tissue damage with significant reductions in inflammatory events including leukocyte adhesion and migration, and production of inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore HO has been shown to pr…
author: MARRAZZO, GIUSEPPINA
language: eng
keywords: cornea, heme oxygenase, inflammation
date published: 2011-12-07
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:35:10Z
provider: Università degli Studi di Catania
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Università degli studi di Catania

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/593451