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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Experimental Models for Study of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Physiology and Pathophysiology
Published on: November 6, 2010
The effect of interleukin-1alpha on outflow facility in rat eyes
1Department of Ophthalmology, Samsung Medical Center, College of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
Purpose:
The authors investigated whether regulation of the trabecular extracellular matrix turnover rate and remodeling plays an important role in decreasing outflow resistance by determining the effect of intracamerally given interleukin-1alpha, a known stimulator of the expression of trabecular matrix metalloproteinases, on outflow facility of albino rat eyes.
Materials And Methods:
Forty normal albino rats (Sprague-Dawley), weighing 250 to 300 g, were studied. Rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal pentobarbital sodium (30 mg/kg) injection. The rats were separated into four groups and given 5, 10, 25, or 50 units of interleukin-1alpha injected intracamerally in one eye. Bovine serum albumin in phosphate-buffered saline, which was used to dissolve the interleukin-1alpha, was injected in the fellow eye as a control. Outflow facility was measured by two-level constant pressure perfusion 1, 3, and 7 days after injection.
Results:
The eyes treated with 50 units of interleukin-1alpha showed a statistically significant increase of outflow facility by 37% compared with the contralateral control eyes 3 days after injection, but returned to normal levels in 7 days. The eyes treated with 5, 10, 25, or 50 units of interleukin-1alpha showed outflow facility increases of 12%, 20%, 39%, and 37%, respectively, 3 days after injection.
Conclusion:
Interleukin-1alpha increased the outflow facility, supporting the hypothesis that regulation of trabecular meshwork extracellular matrix plays a role in trabecular outflow resistance.
