Interleukin-1beta mediates ischemic injury in the rat retina

Exp Eye Res. 2001 Nov;73(5):661-7. doi: 10.1006/exer.2001.1072.

Abstract

Two types of experiment were performed to examine the role of interleukin-1beta in ischemia-induced damage in the rat retina. In the in vivo study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to investigate the expression of immunoreactive interleukin-1beta in the rat retina following a hypertension-induced ischemia/reperfusion, while the effect of a recombinant human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist or an anti-interleukin-1beta neutralizing antibody on the ischemia-induced damage was examined histologically. A transient increase in the expression of immunoreactive interleukin-1beta was observed in the retina 3-12 hr after reperfusion, and morphometric evaluation at 7 days after the ischemia showed a decrease in cell numbers in the ganglion cell layer and a decreased thickness of the inner plexiform layer with no change in the other retinal layers. Intravitreal injection of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (1 or 10 ng per eye) or anti-interleukin-1beta antibody (50 or 500 ng per eye) 5 min before the onset of the ischemia reduced the damage. In the in vitro study, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (500 ng ml(-1)) significantly reduced glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in rat cultured retinal neurons. These results suggest that interleukin-1 plays an important role in mediating ischemic and excitotoxic damage in the retina, and that interleukin-1 inhibitors may be therapeutically useful against neuronal injury caused by optic nerve or retinal diseases such as glaucoma and central retinal artery or vein occlusion.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Cell Count
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Cells, Cultured / drug effects
  • Choroid Plexus / pathology
  • Dizocilpine Maleate / pharmacology
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Ganglia, Sensory / pathology
  • Glutamic Acid / pharmacology
  • Interleukin-1 / physiology*
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Reperfusion Injury / metabolism*
  • Reperfusion Injury / pathology
  • Retina / pathology
  • Retinal Diseases / metabolism*
  • Retinal Diseases / pathology

Substances

  • Interleukin-1
  • Glutamic Acid
  • Dizocilpine Maleate