Clearance rate of macrophages from the vitreous in rabbits

Macrophages are usually present in epiretinal membranes from eyes with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Information on the kinetics of macrophages in the eye may be of help in identifying their role in this disease. To determine the half-life of macrophages in the vitreous, peritoneal macrophages were labeled by allowing them to phagocytose 141Cerium (gamma-emitter) labeled microspheres, and were then injected into the vitreous of the same rabbit from which they were obtained. The animals were sacrificed at various times post-injection and the radioactivity remaining in the vitreous was measured. Using this procedure, the half-life was found to be 4.8 days.