Figure 3. Three μm paraffin sections and quantitation of blood vessel profiles in the inner retina from mice with oxygen induced retinopathy and treated with the somatostatin analog octreotide using a late intervention protocol

Octreotide reduced pathological angiogenesis in the retina of mice with oxygen induced retinopathy and had no effect on normal physiological angiogenesis in sham mice. The following abbreviations are used: oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR); ganglion cell layer (GCL); inner plexiform layer (IPL) and blood vessel profiles (BVPs). The sections are stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Magnification x150. Scale bar equals 50 μm. A is sham+vehicle, B is sham+20 mg/kg octreotide, C is OIR+vehicle, and D is OIR+20 mg/kg octreotide. Retina in all sham groups appeared normal with BVPs (arrows) evident in the GCL and IPL. In OIR vehicle controls (C), numerous BVPs (arrows) were present in the inner retina and also adherent to the retinal surface (arrowhead). Values are mean±sem. N=9 to 10 mice per group. Asterisk denotes p<0.0001 compared to all OIR groups. Cross indicates p<0.0001 compared to OIR+vehicle.