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Updated: May 7, 2026
Use of Rabbit Eyes in Pharmacokinetic Studies of Intraocular Drugs
Published on: July 23, 2016
Intravitreal pharmacokinetics after posterior subtenon triamcinolone acetonide injection in vitrectomized rabbit eyes
Hyun Jun Park1, Ji Eun Lee, Sung Il Kim
1*Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Korea; †Research Institute of Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital, Yangsan, Korea; and ‡Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
Purpose:
To investigate the intraocular pharmacokinetics of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injected into the posterior subtenon of vitrectomized rabbit eyes.
Methods:
Vitrectomy was performed on the right eyes of 35 rabbits. Triamcinolone acetonide (40 mg/mL) was injected into the posterior subtenon space of both eyes. Five rabbits each were killed at days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 84. Both eyes were enucleated. The vitreous was isolated, and TA concentration was measured.
Results:
In vitrectomized eyes, the intravitreal concentrations of TA were 1763, 822.9, 321.5, 113.3, 35.5, 14.4, and 6.7 ng/mL, respectively, at the time points indicated above; the concentrations in nonvitrectomized eyes were 397.8, 360.4, 154.4, 48.5, 30.7, 15.2, and 8.0 ng/mL, respectively. Triamcinolone acetonide concentrations were significantly higher in the vitrectomized eyes at days 1, 3, 7, and 14. The terminal half-life of intravitreal TA was 23.3 days in the vitrectomized eyes and 28.9 days in the nonvitrectomized eyes.
Conclusion:
Intravitreal absorption and excretion of TA in the posterior subtenon space are increased after vitrectomy. Although the terminal half-life of TA was shorter, higher early concentration and similar effective duration were achieved in the vitrectomized eyes.
