title: Anti-inflammatory effect of the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone in animal eyes undergoing extracapsular lens extraction.
abstract: In this study anti-inflammatory effects of the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) on ocular inflammation caused by extracapsular lens extraction (ECLE) have been investigated and the potential mechanism of an anti-inflammatory effect is discussed. Pigmented rabbit eyes after ECLE were treated locally with alpha-MSH, dexamethasone, diclofenac, or saline 4 times a day (q.i.d.) for 4 weeks. The inhibitory effect of alpha-MSH on infiltrating cells in the aqueous humor (AqH) was almost twice as good as that of dexamethasone or diclofenac for 3 days, 1 week, and 2 weeks after the operation. The eyes of Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with an intravenous injection of alpha-MSH or saline immediately after ECLE. Six hours postoperatively, the iris/ciliary body exhibited increased expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNAs, which were significantly decreased after alpha-MSH treatment. The number of activated NF-kappa B (NFkappaB)-positive cells in the iris/ciliary body was also significantly reduced by the alpha-MSH treatment. These results suggested that alpha-MSH could effectively reduce ocular inflammation after ECLE, and the potential mechanism for this is by down-regulating the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and inhibiting the NFkappaB-dependent signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Eye Center of Affiliated Second Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xiajing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000187:drug effects; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D002924:Ciliary Body / Q000187:drug effects; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004008:Diclofenac / Q000494:pharmacology; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007498:Iris / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D000521:alpha-MSH / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D016207:Cytokines; D016328:NF-kappa B; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D004008:Diclofenac; D000521:alpha-MSH; D003907:Dexamethasone