Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May;48(5):456-464.
doi: 10.1080/02713683.2023.2173237. Epub 2023 Feb 7.

Beneficial Effects of Plasma Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF) Versus Autologous Serum and Topical Insulin in Ocular Surface Cells

Eduardo Anitua  1   2 , María de la Fuente  1   2 , Ronald M Sánchez-Ávila  1 , Borja de la Sen-Corcuera  1   2 , Jesús Merayo-Lloves  3   4 , Francisco Muruzábal  1   2
Affiliations

Beneficial Effects of Plasma Rich in Growth Factors (PRGF) Versus Autologous Serum and Topical Insulin in Ocular Surface Cells

Eduardo Anitua et al. Curr Eye Res. 2023 May.

Abstract

Purpose: In the last few decades, several blood derived products such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP), plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) and autologous serum (AS) have been used for the treatment of ocular surface disorders. Recently, insulin has been proposed to be used as an alternative for the treatment of ocular surface diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological potential of PRGF eye drops in comparison with AS and insulin on ocular surface cells.

Methods: Blood from three healthy young donors was collected to obtain autologous serum (AS) eye drops and plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) eye drops. Insulin (Actrapid®) was diluted at 1 and 0.2 IU/mL. The biological potential of PRGF, AS and insulin was assessed by proliferation in HCE, HK and HConF cells. Wound healing assay was performed in HCE cells after incubation with the different treatments. HConF and HK cells were differentiated to myofibroblast after treatment with 2.5 ng/mL of TGF-β1 and then incubated with all treatments.

Results: PRGF eye drops induced significantly higher proliferation rate compared to AS or insulin in HConF and HK cells, but not in HCE cells. In addition, the percentage of wound healing area was significantly reduced after PRGF treatment in comparison with AS or insulin treatment. Furthermore, PRGF significantly reduced the number of myodifferentiated cells compared to AS and insulin at both concentrations analyzed.

Conclusion: The results obtained in the present study show that PRGF increases the biological activity of the ocular surface cells and reduces the expression of fibrosis marker compared to insulin or AS.

Translational relevance: The present study suggests that plasma rich in growth factors eye drops are a more effective therapy than insulin and autologous serum eye drops for the treatment of ocular surface diseases.

Keywords: Cornea; epithelial cells; fibroblasts; platelet rich plasma; wound healing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types