Effect of topical chemical irritation on the blood-aqueous barrier of the rat eye

Aldose reductase prevents aldehyde toxicity in cultured human lens epithelial cells

Aldehydes are widespread environmental and industrial compounds, which cause cytotoxicity, tissue damage, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity leading to various disease conditions such as cardiovascular, bronchial, and visual complications. We have shown earlier that aldose reductase (AR) besides reducing glucose to sorbitol, efficiently reduces various toxic lipid-derived aldehydes, generated under oxidative stress, with K(m) in the physiological range. We have identified the role of AR in the prevention of various lipid aldehyde-induced cytotoxic signals leading to apoptosis in human lens epithelial cells (HLEC). HLEC were cultured without or with AR inhibitors followed by addition of various saturated and unsaturated lipid aldehydes with a carbon chain length varying from C3 to C10. The cell viability was assessed by cell counts and MTT assay, and apoptosis was measured by evaluating nucleosomal degradation and caspase-3 activation using specific ELISA kits. Although all the aldehydes caused apoptosis of HLEC, the unsaturated aldehydes were more toxic than saturated aldehydes. Inhibition of AR by sorbinil potentiated while the over-expression of AR prevented the apoptosis induced by various lipid aldehydes. AR over-expression also prevented the lipid aldehyde-induced activation of caspase-3, MAPK, JNK and the expression of Bcl-2 family of proteins in HLEC. The results indicate that the lipid aldehydes generated under oxidative stress are cytotoxic to HLEC leading to apoptosis and that the reduction of lipid aldehydes by AR would prevent it.

Platelets and polymorphonuclear leukocytes in experimental ocular inflammation in the rabbit eye

Accumulation of 111indium-oxine (111In)-labelled platelets and the kinetics of 111In-labelled polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) were studied in the anterior eye during neurogenic inflammation (induced by topical neutral formaldehyde) or after paracentesis in the rabbit, after formaldehyde irritation, 40 times more platelets were found in the aqueous humor 60 min later than in the control eyes and 400 times more after paracentesis. Platelets were found to be increased in the ciliary body, but not in the iris or choroid. Under light microscopy, some of the blood vessels in the ciliary processes were occluded and filled with red blood cells and platelets. The amount of PMNLs increased in the aqueous humor 15-20 h following formaldehyde irritation. After paracentesis, increased amounts of PMNLs were found in the iris and ciliary body 3-6 h later, while in the aqueous humor PMNLs were observed already 2 h. In the present study, increased amounts of 111In-labelled platelets and PMNLs were demonstrated in the anterior eye during experimental ocular inflammation. This method provides a useful tool for evaluating the accumulation of cells or the cell kinetics in ocular tissues during experimental inflammation.

Responses to antidromic trigeminal nerve stimulation, substance P, NKA, CGRP and capsaicin in the rat eye

In the rat eye, intracameral injections of substance P in doses of 10-30 pmol caused a maximal long-lasting miosis and a leakage of plasma proteins into the aqueous humor, indicating a breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier. Neurokinin A seemed equipotent to SP, but calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) (17 pmol) caused neither miosis nor protein leakage into the aqueous humor. The same result was obtained when CGRP was administered intravenously. Intracameral injection of capsaicin caused only a transient miosis which could not be repeated with further injections, even though the pupillary sphincter was still able to react to exogenous SP. Antidromic electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve caused plasma extravasation in the skin and a breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier with an increased protein content in the aqueous humor. The stimulation did not affect the pupil size. The results indicate that in rat eyes SP and NKA are miotics, but the amounts that can be released from sensory nerve endings are too small to cause persistent miosis. These peptides are more likely to play a role in the neurogenic breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier. CGRP at the same dose affects neither the pupillary sphincter muscle nor the barrier.