Experimental Study On The Inhibiting Of The Corneal Neovascularization Treated With Thalidomide

[Objective] To investigate the anti-angiogenesis effects and possiblemechanism of thalidomide when administered orally on cornealneovascularization(CNV)in rabbits induced by alkali burn.We examinedthe expressions of VEGF on the rabbit corneal.[Mathods]Following the central cornea of eighteen eyes were burned by1mol/L NaOH ,New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned totreated group and control group, treated group was treated withthalidomide on 200mg/kg once daily every rabbit after setting up themodel.The time for treatment was 1 week,and after that we observed 1week without treatment. Corneal angiogenesis was observed under theoprating magnifying glass.And we measure the length and clock hour ofthe blood vessels. the animals euthanizeed on the 14th day after settingup the model,the corneas were taken for histopahtological analysis.Expressions of VEGF were examined in paraffin sections by two-stepimmunohistochemical staining and then analysis the relation of cornealneovascularization and VEGF .[Result] The cornea area of treated group was statistically smallerthan that in the control group . The control groups'result ofimmunohistochemistry shows that expressions of VEGF is higher thanthose in the other groups significantly .[Conclusion] Thalidomide can inhibit corneal angiogenesis induced byalkaline cauterization of the central cornea. The effect is associatedwith the inhibition of VEGF.