Objective To investigate the relationship between expression of retinal intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and blood-retinal barrier (BRB) rupture and therapeutic effect of intravitreous injection with triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on blood-retinal barrier rupture in rats with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Diabetic model of Wistar rats was induced and were divided into normal control group, DM-4-month group and DM-6-month group. Each group was subdivided into immunohistochemcial staining and BRB measurement groups. BRB measurement group was further divided into non-TA treatment group, 1-week-TA treatment group, and 2-week-TA treatment group. The rats were intravitreously injected with 5 mu;l TA. The digested retinal preparation was stained by immunohistochemcial method to observe the expression of retinal ICAM-1 and morphological changes. The mean optic density (A) value of endothelial cells was measured by image-analyzing software to quantify the expression of ICAM-1. BRB changes were measured by content test of retinal Evans blue (EB). Results In the immunohistochemcial staining groups, there was no significant positive expression of ICAM-1 in retinal capillary in control group. Compared with the control, there was significant positive expression of ICAM-1 in DM-4-month group (P＜0.001) with some morphological changes such as irregular width of capillary caliber, and there was enhanced positive expression of ICAM-1 in DM-6-month group (P＜0.001) with aggravated morphological changes and even acellular capillary. In the BRB measurement groups, there was no significant difference of EB content(P＞0.05) among control groups. The EB content in two DM groups significantly increased compared with that in the controls (Plt;0.001), and higher in DM-6-month group than that in DM-4-month group (Plt;0.01). In TA treatment groups, the EB content in all the DM groups significantly decreased (Plt;0.001) but with no significant difference among the groups(P＞0.05). EB content in DM-4-month group after 2-week treatment almost reached to normal value (P＞0.05) while was higher in the rest of TA treatment groups than that in the control group (Plt;0.05). Rectilinear correlation between A value of endothelial cells and the retinal EB content(r=－0.959)was found. Conclusion There is a positive relation between the expression of ICAM-1 and BRB rupture in retina of DM rats, and intravitreous injection with TA can effectively alleviate BRB rupture. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2006, 22: 24-27)
ObjectiveTo evaluate the protective effect of estrogen on survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after transient retinal ischemia-reperfusion (RIR) in rats.MethodsRIR was induced in 60 ovariectomized adult rats (OVX) by increasing intraocular pressure via an intracameral catheter. All of the rats were divided into two groups randomly: in experimental group, the rats underwent a subcutaneous injection with 17β-estrodiol（100 μg/kg） 2 hours before retinal ischemia; and in the control group, saline water was injected correspondingly. The number of RGCs and the thickness of the inner retinal layers were mesured by HE staining method before and 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after reperfusion. TdT-mediated biotin-dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) staining technique was used to examine the apoptosis of RGCs.ResultsTwenty-four and 48 hours after reperfusion, the number of apoptotic cells in experimental group was obvious lower than that in the control group(Plt;0.05), and the number of RGCs in experimental group was higher than that in the control group(Plt;0.05).ConclusionEstrogen can protect retinal neurons from transient RIR in ovariectomized rats.(Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2005,21:177-179)