Inhibition of experimental angiogenesis of cornea by somatostatin

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.