Establishment of a tree shrew model of Fusarium solani keratitis

  Objective: To establish a tree shrew model of Fusarium solani keratitis by using clinically isolated Fusarium solani keratitis to infect the cornea of tree shrews.

   Method: Inoculate Fusarium solani into Sabol's medium, culture in an incubator at 26°C for 7 days, collect the fungal suspension, and adjust the number of spores to 1×1010CFU/mL using a blood cell counter. Forty clean tree shrews were randomly divided into experimental group (n=30) and control group (n=10). In the experimental group, 50 μL of the fungal spore suspension was injected into the center of the cornea with an insulin needle (29 G), and 50 μL of normal saline was injected into the control group. The model was evaluated by anterior photographs, confocal microscopy, histopathological changes, and infected corneal tissue culture. Results: The extent of fungal infiltration, corneal epithelial cell and endothelial cell edema, and the number of hyphae were all positively correlated with time; the number of inflammatory cell infiltration peaked on the 7th day after modeling, with neutrophils as the main factor; each time point in the experiment The hyphae grew parallel to the matrix fibers; the growth of Fusarium solani can be seen in corneal tissue culture after infection; the success rate of model building was 86%.

   Conclusion: For the first time, a tree shrew model of Fusarium solani keratitis was successfully established by the method of matrix injection of Fusarium solani keratitis.