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DMSO mimics inhibitory effect of thalidomide on choriocapillary endothelial cell proliferation in culture
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany. eter@ui-bonn.de
Aim:
To evaluate the effect of thalidomide on bovine choriocapillary endothelial cell proliferation.
Methods:
Posterior segments of bovine eyes were incubated with trypsin. After digestion of the tapetum, pieces of Bruch's membrane with the adherent choriocapillaris were scraped, digested again with a cocktail of enzymes, washed and cultured in MCDB 131 medium. Cells were incubated with 100 micro g/ml thalidomide (dissolved in DMSO as recommended). Control cultures were incubated with DMSO alone or without any supplement. Cell proliferation after 24 hours was determined in a counting chamber. Purity of the cultures was controlled by immunohistochemical staining and labelling with low density lipoprotein.
Results:
Thalidomide dissolved in DMSO inhibited proliferation of choriocapillary endothelial cells compared to control cultures incubated without any supplement. However, DMSO alone suppressed cell proliferation equally well.
Conclusion:
In cultured bovine choriocapillary cells the inhibiting effect of thalidomide may at least in part be attributed to the solvent DMSO alone.
