Effect of thiazolidinediones on early retinopathy in rats with experimental diabetes / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To determine the effect of thiazolidinediones (TZDs) on early retinopathy in rats with experimental diabetes. Methods In 40 rats, diabetic models were set up in 36 by one-off intraperitoneal injection with streptozotocin (STZ), and other 4 were in the normal control group. Twenty-four diabetic rats with the disease-duration of more than 6 months underwent intravitreous injection (with rosiglitazone or pioglitazone in 10 rats, respectively), and the rest 4 rats weren′t injected with drugs as the diabetic positive control group. Immunohistochemical treptomycin-avidin-biotin-complex (SABC) method, in situ hybridization of retinal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA, and TdT-dUTP terminal nick-end labelling (TUNEL) were performed on the ocular paraffin section to detect the cellular apoptosis. The difference of VEGF expression and cellular apoptosis between TZDs and control group was observed and analyzed. Results The results of immunohistochemical staining and hybridization in situ were negative in the normal control group. The positive expression rate of VEGF was lower in rosiglitazone and pioglitazone group than which in the diabetic positive control group, and there was no obvious differences of positive expression of VEGF mRNA and cellular apoptosis between the 2 groups. Conclusion TZDs (rosiglitazone and pioglitazone) may inhibit the positive expression of VEGF protein in retina of STZ-induced diabetic rats to some extent, but not affect the growth of VEGF in retina.