Abstract
Purpose: :
Neovascularization of the cornea compromises its transparency and leads to severe visual impairment. It is a common clinical problem seen in response to chronic hypoxia or various inflammatory stimuli, such as infectious keratitis, alkali burns and graft rejections. Wondonin is a new bis imidazole purified from the sponges, Poecillastra wondoensis. Tis study, we confirmed the effect of wondonin on corneal neovascularization in rat.
Methods: :
Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks old, male, 250g) were used for corneal neovascularization model. Induction of corneal neovascularization was performed by using a silver nitrate cauterization. All groups were chemically cauterized with an applicator stick (diameter of 1.8 mm) coated with 75% silver nitrate and 25% potassium nitrate. The drug was injected to subconjunctival space. Subconjunctival injections were performed with a 30-gauge needle attached to 100ul Hamilton syringe. 20ul in three doses (0, 5 and 50ug) were injected to subconjunctival space. The corneal neovascularization was observed using the ophthalmic microscope with digital camera.
Results: :
Cornea neovascularization was observed 1week after cauterization. In the saline treated control eye, the corneal neovasculariztion covered half of cornea. But, in the wondonin 50ug treated eye, inhibition of the corneal neovascularization was observed. In the wondonin 5ug treated eye, the inhibition effect was not significantly different from the control eye. Also, the wondonin-treated eye had less neovascularisation and inflammation than the control eyes 2weeks after cauterization. But the neovasculariztion was observed in the quarter of the cornea.
Conclusions: :
In this study, we investigated that the effect of wondonin on corneal neovascularization. These results suggest that the wondonin can be used a therapeutic drug for ocular neovascularization.
Keywords: neovascularization • drug toxicity/drug effects