Effect of thalidomide on endostatin levels in retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of thalidomide treatment on endostatin production in ischemia/reperfusion-injured guinea pigs retinas.

Methods: Control, ischemia, thalidomide/ischemia groups including 7 animals in each were formed from pigmented male guinea pigs. Retinal ischemia was induced by cannulating anterior chambers and lifting the bottle to a height of 205 cm for 90 min in the ischemia and thalidomide/ischemia groups. The thalidomide/ischemia group received thalidomide (300 mg/kg/day) via nasogastric tube 24 h before ischemia and during 7 days of reperfusion. Guinea pigs were sacrified for biochemical analysis of retinal endostatin level by ELISA.

Results: The mean retinal endostatin levels of the control, ischemia and thalidomide/ischemia groups were 11.79 +/- 7.36, 14.70 +/- 4.88, 30.94 +/- 15.59 ng/ml, respectively. The mean retinal endostatin level of the thalidomide/ischemia group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p = 0.011). The mean retinal endostatin level of the thalidomide/ischemia group was higher than that of the ischemia group, but there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.073). No statistically significant difference in the mean retinal endostatin level was found between the control and ischemia groups (p = 0.165).

Conclusion: Thalidomide treatment increased retinal endostatin level in ischemia/reperfusion-injured guinea pig retinas.