ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody,MIL60,in inhibiting corneal neovascularization (CoNV) formation in a rat model of alkali cauterization and its involved mechanisms.Methods Rat CoNV model induced by alkali burn was founded in the right eyes,and then 72 cases were randomly divided into four groups according to the subconjunctival administration of medicine next day after the successful establishment of this model:25mg· mL-1 MIL60 group,dexamethasone group,MIL60 solvent group and NaCl group.Then CoNV was observed for recording the its length and the involved area using digital photograph.Next the rats were sacrificed on day 7,14,21 and 28,followed by the collection of rats' cornea for HE and immunohistochemical staining to analyze the protein expression of VEGF,VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1),VEGFR-2 and matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9).Results At each time point,the area and length of CoNV in the 25 mg· mL-1 MIL60 and dexamethasone group were significantly less than those in the MIL60 solvent and NaC1 group,and the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜0.01),and 25 mg· mL-1 MIL60 group had the similar CoNV area and length with the dexamethasone group (all P ＞ 0.05).Moreover,HE and immunohistochemical staining showed that MIL60 could inhibit the protein expression of VEGF,VEGFR-1,VEGFR-2 and MMP-9,which could explain its effective anti-angiogenic activity.Conclusion Subconjunctival administration of MIL60 can significantly inhibit corneal neovascularization formation and alleviate the inflammation in rats suffered from alkali burn.