Influence of donor age, post-mortem time and cold storage on metabolic profile of human cornea

. Purpose: Limited knowledge exists about the influence of donor age and death-to-preservation interval (DPI) on the metabolic properties of the cornea. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between both factors and metabolite content of the cornea. Methods: Corneas from 15 human donors (age: 4178 years) were obtained within 16 hrs post-mortem and kept in cold storage for 8 days. The metabolic profiles of the samples were investigated using high-resolution, magic angle spinning 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy before and after 8 days of preservation. Results: Twenty-two metabolites were detected and assigned in the corneal spectra. The significant metabolic differences before and after hypothermic storage were revealed between younger and older donors. DPI-related significant differences revealed before preservation of the corneas were not displayed after 8 days of cold storage. Conclusions: Age of donor as well as post-mortem time influences the biochemical properties of the cornea. Cold storage decreases the metabolite differences between the tissues collected at different post-mortem time.