All experiments were performed in accordance with applicable German laws and with the ARVO Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research. Twenty-nine adult pigmented rabbits (2–3 kg, both sexes) were anesthetized by intramuscular injection of ketamine (50 mg/kg body weight; Ratiopharm, Ulm, Germany) and xylazine (3 mg/kg; BayerVital, Leverkusen, Germany). The pupils of the right eyes were dilated by topical application of tropicamide (1%; Ursapharm, Saarbrücken, Germany) and phenylephrine hydrochloride (5%; Ankerpharm, Rudolstadt, Germany), and after pars plana sclerotomy, a circumscript vitrectomy was performed in the area of the future detachment. Thin glass micropipettes attached to 250-μL glass syringes (Hamilton, Reno, NV) were used to create a local retinal detachment by subretinal injection of 0.25% sodium hyaluronate (Healon; Pharmacia & Upjohn, Dübendorf, Switzerland) in saline. Nasal retinal parts (with diameters of 8–10 mm) were detached near the medullary rays. In two and three animals, respectively, PPADS (10 mM in 100 μL saline) or suramin solution (5 mM in 100 μL saline) was injected into the subretinal space (50 μL) and into the vitreous body (50 μL) just after the retina was detached. (The concentrations of the drugs mean the concentration of the injected solutions.) The left eyes had no operation and served as the control. After survival times of 3 (n = 2 animals), 24 (n = 6), 48 (n = 10), or 72 hours (n = 5), the animals were anesthetized as described, and were killed by an intravenous application of T61 (3 mL; embutramid mebezonium iodide; Hoechst, Unterschleissheim, Germany), and the eyes were excised. In addition, two further control groups (n = 3 animals each) were investigated: In one group, saline (100 μL) was placed over the vitreal surface of the undetached retina after vitrectomy (“saline control” group), in the other group, a small retinal hole was made after vitrectomy, and sodium hyaluronate (100 μL) was placed over the vitreal surface of the undetached retina (“sodium hyaluronate control” group). The animals of both groups were killed 48 hours after surgery.