Inhibition of experimental angiogenesis of cornea by somatostatin

• Published in: Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology Vol. 241; no. 1; pp. 63 - 69
• Main Authors: WU, Pei-Chang, LIU, Chi-Chang, CHEN, Chih-Hsin, KOU, Hsi-Kung, SHEN, Su-Chin, LU, Cheng-Yuan, CHOU, Wen-Ying, SUNG, Ming-Tse, YANG, Lin-Cheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 2003; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Angiogenesis Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cornea - drug effects; Cornea - pathology; Corneal Neovascularization - chemically induced; Corneal Neovascularization - pathology; Corneal Neovascularization - prevention & control; Delayed-Action Preparations; Disease Models, Animal; Eye; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; Male; Medical sciences; Ophthalmology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Somatostatin - administration & dosage; Animal model; Cornea; Rat; Rodentia; Keratopathy; Biological activity; Angiogenesis; In vivo; Eye disease; Vertebrata; Chemotherapy; Mammalia; Treatment; Animal; Inhibition; Neovascularization; Somatostatin
• ISSN: 0721-832X; 1435-702X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00417-002-0591-7

This study evaluated the inhibitory activity of somatostatin 14 on the angiogenesis of cornea in vivo.
Corneal neovascularization was induced with a pellet containing 90 ng of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in a rat corneal pocket model. Three kinds of pellets were made containing bFGF plus somatostatin (SST) 0 ng, 20 ng and 200 ng for the control group, group 1 and group 2, respectively. Neovascularization was observed biomicroscopically from day 4 to day 8, and the corneas were then examined for changes in histology. Quantitation of angiogenesis in the cornea was accomplished by caliper and image analysis.
The 200-ng dose of SST showed significant inhibition of both length and area of neovascularization on day 7 (0.62+/-0.11 mm vs 1.29+/-0.16 mm, 0.50+/-0.16 mm2 vs 1.35+/-0.29mm2, group 2 vs control; P<0.05). The 20 ng of somatostatin did not demonstrate any significant inhibition of neovascularization compared with the control group.
Our study demonstrated that SST 14 can reduce bFGF-induced corneal angiogenesis. This shows the potential value of somatostatin in the treatment of corneal neovascularization.