Abstract:
Background: Studies on local body temperatures improve the potential for analysis
of biological processes in organs and tissues of the body. A study on changes in ocular
surface temperature in an animal model of non-infectious uveitis for objectively
assessing ocular inflammation is planned for the future.
Purpose: To determine normal temperatures of the ocular surface in the projection of
the ciliary body in rabbits.
Material and Methods: Temperature of the ocular surface in the projection of the
pars plana was measured in 42 Chinchilla rabbits using a thermoelectric device.
Results: There was no significant difference in mean temperature between the nasal
ocular surface and the temporal ocular surface in the projection of the ciliary body
(34.13 °С (SD=1.45) against 34.09 °С (SD=1.48), p = 0.57). In addition, there was
a very weak correlation of room temperature with body temperature and ocular
surface temperature. Mean ocular surface temperature for the right eye was 34.1°С
(SD=1.43), and for the left eye, 34.2°С (SD=1.43), but the difference in this measure
between the right and left eyes was not significant (р = 0.27).
Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the temperature of the ocular
surface in the projection of the ciliary body between the right and left eyes in the
absence of pathological changes. The mean temperature of the ocular surface in the
projection of the ciliary body in intact rabbits was 34.1°С (SD=1.4). Temperature
of the ocular surface in the projection of the ciliary body in rabbits is characterized
by autonomic thermoregulation and is relatively stable at small environmental
temperature variations. The pattern of heat exchange in rabbit’s ocular surface allows
for modeling of unilateral ocular pathological processes that would have a change in
local body temperature in the projection of the ciliary body as an objective marker
