The effect of alkylphosphocholines on intraretinal proliferation initiated by experimental retinal detachment

To determine the effect of alkylphosphocholines (APCs) on intraretinal proliferation induced by experimental retinal detachment in the rabbit.

Retinal detachments were created in adult pigmented rabbits. APCs, either liposome bound (liposome, L-APC) or unbound (free, F-APC), were injected intravitreally on either day 1 or day 2 after detachment. BrdU was injected on day 3, 4 hours before death. After fixation, retinas were triple labeled with anti-BrdU, anti-vimentin, and the isolectin B4. The number of anti-BrdU-labeled cells was counted per millimeter of retina from sections imaged by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Toxicity was examined using toluidine blue-stained sections imaged by light microscopy and by electron microscopy for ultrastructural evaluation.

Retinal detachment initiated proliferation of all non-neuronal cells. After intravitreal injection on day 1 or 2 after experimental induction of retinal detachment, APCs significantly reduced the number of dividing cells at day 3. Liposome-bound drug given on day 2 was more effective on Müller cell proliferation than was unbound drug. Injection of F-APC on day 1 was more effective than when given on day 2. No apparent effect was seen on Müller cell hypertrophy as indicated by vimentin expression. In addition, no evidence of toxicity was observed in the retina at day 3 for any of the conditions.

APCs significantly reduce the number of Müller cells that are stimulated to divide as a result of retinal detachment. The preliminary results indicate no evidence of significant toxicity; however, further studies are needed. APCs have the potential to be used as part of a therapeutic approach if they can be combined with other agents that can suppress the fibrosis that is also a critical event in the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinal diseases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).