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Updated: Jul 8, 2026
Use of Rabbit Eyes in Pharmacokinetic Studies of Intraocular Drugs
Published on: July 23, 2016
Absence of histologic retinal toxicity of intravitreal nanogold in a rabbit model
Sophie J Bakri1, Jose S Pulido, Priyabata Mukherjee
1Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. bakri.sophie@mayo.edu
Purpose:
To evaluate the retinal toxicity of intravitreal nanogold, a novel antiangiogenic and long-term delivery agent.
Methods:
One eye of each of 16 Dutch-belted rabbits was injected with intravitreal nanogold; the other eye served as a control. Eight rabbits received a dose of 67 micromol/0.1 mL of nanogold intravitreally into 1 eye; the other 8 rabbits received a dose of 670 micromol/0.1 mL of nanogold intravitreally into 1 eye. Eight rabbits were killed at 1 week, and eight were killed at 1 month; both eyes of each rabbit were enucleated. The eyes were fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde and sectioned for histologic examination.
Results:
In all injected and control eyes, there was mild vacuolization in the inner plexiform and ganglion cell layers. The retina and retinal pigment epithelium were otherwise histologically normal.
Conclusion:
Intravitreal nanogold at concentrations of 67 micromol/0.1 mL and 670 micromol/0.1 mL showed no signs of retinal or optic nerve toxicity by light microscopy during histologic examination at 1 month.
