Triamcinolone acetonide protects the rat retina from STZ-induced acute inflammation and early vascular leakage.
Streptozotocin (STZ) has been commonly used to induce in vivo and in vitro hyperglycemic diabetes and its toxicity leads to inflammation and vascular injury. Triamcinolone acetonide (TA), as an anti-angiogenic/anti-inflammatory drug, is clinically used to improve the visual acuity in neovascular and edematous ocular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of TA on early inflammation and vascular leakage in the retina of STZ-induced hyperglycemic rats. Hyperglycemia was induced in 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (65 mg/kg); only rats with blood glucose levels >13.9 mmol/l 1 day after STZ injection were included in STZ-hyperglycemic group. Sex- and age-matched SD rats injected with buffer were used as the control group. One day before STZ and buffer injection, 2 microl TA (4 mg/ml in saline) and 2 microl saline were intravitreal-injected into the right and the left eyes of rats, respectively. Retinal vascular leakage was measured using the Evans-blue method. Changes in pro-inflammatory target genes, such as tumor necrotic factor (TNF)-alpha, intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were assessed by immunoblottings, immunostaining, and ELISA analyses. Vascular hyperleakage and up-regulation of most pro-inflammatory genes peaked within a few days after STZ injection and had recovered. However, these changes were blocked by TA pretreatment. Our data suggest that TA controls STZ-induced early vascular leakage and temporary pro-inflammatory signals in the rat retina.
Kim
Y H
YH
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Institute of Health Science, School of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-751, South Korea.
Choi
M Y
MY
Kim
Y S
YS
Park
C H
CH
Lee
J H
JH
Chung
I Y
IY
Yoo
J M
JM
Choi
W S
WS
Cho
G J
GJ
Kang
S S
SS
D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013311:Streptozocin / Q000633:toxicity*; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D013311:Streptozocin; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide