| Objective To investigate the anti-angiogenesis effects and possible mechanism of amniotic membrane transplantation(AMT) on corneal neovascularization(CNV). We examined the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) and its inhibitor (TIMP-2) during the course of alkali burn-induced corneal in a rabbit model with or without AMT.Methods Corneal neovascularization model of 40 New Zealand rabbits were established by means of alkali burn. Amniotic membrane transplantation were performed on right eyes immediately after burn(group A), The left eyes were uncovered with amniotic membrane(group B). Another 6 rabbits were in control group(group C). The occurrence and development of CNV were observed attentively. The length and the area of CNV were measured and calculated. The rabbits were killed on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 28th day, the corneas were removed for histopathologic study, immuneo-histochemistry study and RT-PCR study.Results CNV can be observed on all of the corneas suffered from alkali bum, while cannot be seen on control group. The length and the area of CNV in group A was significantly smaller compared with that in group B (P<0.05). The expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in untreated corneas were weak or absent. Increased expression was found immediately on the 1st day, the highest expression was found on the 3 rd day, strong expression could also be observed on the 7th day. The expression was decreased after that time. The expression of MMP-2 in group A were lower than that in group B during the course, while the expression of TIMP-2 in group A were higher than that in group B(P<0.05). Conclusion During the course of CNV formation, the expression of MMP-2 andTIMP-2 were increased. Fresh amniotic membrane transplantation could significantly inhibit CNV, which mechanism was supposed to be through the regulation of MMP-2 and TIMP-2. |
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