title: The protective effects of dexmedetomidine against apoptosis in retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dexmedetomidine is an alpha 2 adrenoceptor agonist and can be used for postoperative sedation, analgesia and anesthesia-sparing properties. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effects against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the central nervous system have been shown in experimental studies. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of dexmedetomidine against apoptosis in retinal I/R injury in the rat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retinal I/R injury was induced by transient elevation of intraocular pressure. Eighteen animals were divided into three groups (n = 6): sham, I/R and treatment. The I/R injury and protective effects of the dexmedetomidine were evaluated by retinal thickness determined by histological sections, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated biotin-deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) and immunohistochemistry of caspases 3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A decrease in the retinal thickness and an increase in the apoptotic cells were found to be statistically significant in I/R and treatment groups when compared with the control group. However, in comparison with the I/R group we realized that the administration of dexmedetomidine reduced the thinning of retinal thickness and also decreased the number of caspases 3 and TUNEL-positive cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dexmedetomidine is protective against apoptosis in retinal I/R injury in rats.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Canakkale 18 Mart University , Canakkale , Turkey .
authors: Baran
authors: B
authors: Gencer
authors: Turan
authors: T
authors: Karaca
authors: Hasan Ali
authors: HA
authors: Tufan
authors: Selçuk
authors: S
authors: Kara
authors: Sedat
authors: S
authors: Arikan
authors: Huseyin
authors: H
authors: Toman
authors: Ihsan
authors: I
authors: Karaboga
authors: Volkan
authors: V
authors: Hanci
mesh_terms: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D020927:Dexmedetomidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; D020927:Dexmedetomidine; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: Apoptosis; dexmedetomidine; retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury