Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 305, Issue 2, 8 June 2001, Pages 139-142
Neuroscience Letters

Patterns of retinal ganglion cell survival after brain-derived neurotrophic factor administration in hypertensive eyes of rats

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(01)01830-4Get rights and content

Abstract

We investigated the effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival after intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation at various time intervals. In adult Wistar rats, RGCs were labeled with 5% Fluorogold. Animals with 1.8–2.5-fold increase in IOP after cauterization of three episcleral vessels, were divided into three BDNF groups and three vehicle control groups, each receiving one, two or three injections. The RGC survival percentage on RGCs of the first, second and third injections were 93.9% (n=7), 91.3% (n=7), 82.7% (n=5), respectively in BDNF groups; 91.6% (n=6), 84.1% (n=6) and 73.5% (n=5), respectively in vehicle controls. The second and third injections of BDNF showed statistically significant survival effects. These findings demonstrated that BDNF has partial neuroprotection on RGCs in whole retina and enhances RGC survival in moderately chronic hypertensive eyes.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mr. Ming-Chieh Ma and Miss Terry Liu for helping the experiment and to Dr. Dar-Shaong Hwang for biostatistics. Supported by Department of Ophthalmology Research Fund, NYEE, Glaucoma Foundation, New York, NY; Leon Lowenstein Foundation, Achelis and Bodman Foundation, and NIH, EY 11295, NSC 89–2320-B002–171.

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