The Opacification of the Bovine Isolated Cornea by Surfactants and Other Chemicals—A Process of Protein Denaturation?

Abstract

An attempt has been made to determine whether anionic, cationic and non-ionic surfactants and other chemicals opacify the various layers of bovine isolated corneas to the same or to differing degrees. In the intact cornea the opacifying ability of surfactants was in the following order: cationic>anionic>non-ionic. The chemicals tested spanned the range from virtually inactive to very active. However, in the isolated stroma, the anionic surfactants caused considerably more opacity than either the cationic or non-ionic compounds. The results indicate that cationic surfactants primarily opacify the epithelium. It is suggested that opacification of the cornea is due to precipitation of protein in its various layers. The surfactants opacify egg white solutions in the same order of potency as in the cornea, but within the anionic group the order of opacification produced was the reverse of that in the cornea.