Experimental retinopathy of prematurity: angiostatic inhibition by nimodipine, ginkgo-biloba, and dipyridamole, and response to different growth factors

JUAREZ CP; MUIÑO JC; GUGLIELMONE HUGO A; ABATE DAGA DANIEL

WICHTIG EDITORE

Año: 2000 vol. 10 p. 51 - 51

div class=""> PURPOSE: To investigate whether commonly used vasodilating drugs ameliorate angiogenesis in experimental retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and to study the response of these drugs to different growth factors. METHODS: We used a rat and mouse model of oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy. Animals were treated with nimodipine, gingko-biloba and dipyridamole intraperitoneally starting the day before exposure to room air (day 1). Controls were injected with vehicle solution only. Eyes were processed histopathologically with serial sections and neovascularization was measured by counting the nuclei within the retinal internal limiting membrane, by a masked observer. Retinal and vitreous tissues were assayed by ELISA for VEGF, PDGF and TGFbeta2. RESULTS: Nimodipine significantly inhibited the growth of new vessels in rats. The number of nuclei was 310 +/- 69 in the