title: Pretreatment with bendazac attenuates retinal damage induced by intense light in rats.
abstract: Bendazac is a drug which protects proteins from denaturation induced by different agents. It is also effective in protecting rabbits from X-ray-induced cataract. This study deals with the effects of bendazac on the intense light-induced retinal damage in rats. Four groups of animals received orally 0, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg of bendazac L-lysine salt three times a day for 3 days and once the fourth day, before 1 h exposure to intense-green filtered light. Fourteen days after housing in a dark room, the rats were sacrificed and the retinae were examined by light microscopy. Retinal damage was graded according to a score severity from 0 to 5. The mean score for control animals was 2.23, whereas a dose-related and statistically significant reduction of retinal damage was detected in bendazac treated rats, i.e. 1.72, 1.54 and 1.40. A protective activity in the distribution of the severity score, i.e. a higher incidence of no damaged retinae and a lower frequency in the most severely affected ones, was also observed in treated versus control rats. These results suggest a potential therapeutic value of bendazac in the treatment of those conditions, such as retinitis pigmentosa and senile macular degeneration, in which the light exposure plays a role as a co-factor.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Ricerca Francesco Angelini SpA, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scorza Barcellona
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campana
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caranti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: D'Onofrio
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Silvestrini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001284:Atrophy; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D007191:Indazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008027:Light / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D007191:Indazoles; C036067:bendazac lysine