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Published on: June 14, 2021
Triamcinolone acetonide suppresses early proangiogenic response in retinal pigment epithelial cells after
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. yanagi-tky@umin.ac.jp
Objective:
To investigate the expression of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells after photodynamic therapy (PDT), especially focusing on their change in the presence of triamcinolone acetonide.
Methods:
Firstly, the cellular uptake of verteporfin was quantified after confluent ARPE-19 (human retinal pigment epithelial) cells were exposed to 5 microg/ml verteporfin combined with or without 1 microg/ml triamcinolone acetonide for 1 h. Secondly, ARPE-19 cells exposed to various doses of verteporfin were irradiated with 120 mJ/cm(2) light. After incubation with or without 1 microg/ml triamcinolone acetonide for 2 days, cell viability and expressions of VEGF and PEDF were assessed.
Results:
Cellular uptake of verteporfin was not significantly changed by the presence of 1 microg/ml triamcinolone acetonide. In addition, 0.01-0.1 microg/ml of verteporfin showed a dose-dependent toxicity on the ARPE-19 cells 2 days after the light exposure. The presence of verteporfin at a concentration of 0.01 microg/ml did not affect the cell viability but significantly increased VEGF (p<0.001) and reduced PEDF (p = 0.03) expression. Administration of triamcinolone acetonide significantly suppressed both this increase in VEGF (p<0.001) and decrease in PEDF (p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
VEGF was increased and PEDF reduced in cultured RPE cells shortly after PDT even at a sublethal dose. Triamcinolone acetonide suppressed this proangiogenic response.
