Effects of interlukinª²1 beta on retinas of rats with chronic glaucoma

    DU Zhaoª²Jiang1, LIU Jie1, YANG Xinª²Guang1, WANG Baiª²Ren2, KUANG Fang2, DUAN Xiaoª²Li2

    1 Department of Ophthalmology , Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University , Xi¬ðan 710038 , China, 2 PLA Institute of Neurosciences£¬Xi¬ðan 710033£¬China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To characterize the expression of interlukinª²1 beta(ILª²1¦Â)in chronic glaucomatous rat¬ðs retina and to evaluate the involvement of ILª²1¦Â in glaucomatous neuropathy. METHODS: Forty female Spragueª²Dawley rats were divided into two groups: Normal group and glaucomatous group. An increase in IOP was achieved by cauterizing 2 episcleral veins. IOP was measured by a handheld tonometer (Tonopenª²XL) respectively at 0 min, 30 min, 1 h, 12 h, 1 d, 1 week, 1 month and 2 months after treatment. Eight weeks after treatment, the animals were killed and their eyes were removed and fixed in 40 g/L paraformaldehyde at 4 ¡æ. Eye sections were cut to a thickness of 18 ¦Ìm and mounted onto gelatin-coated slides. The sections were immunohistochemically stained for ILª²1¦Â in rats¬ð retinas of the two groups. RESULTS: The mean IOP of the glaucomatous eyes was about 4ª±04 kPa during the entire experiment. There was an increasing immunoreactivity of ILª²1¦Â in the retina of glaucomatous rats. CONCLUSION: ILª²1¦Â may be involved in glaucomatous neuropathy. ......