IL-10^−/− mice demonstrate significantly reduced retinal neovascularization in response to ischemia.

<p>C57BL/6 and IL-10^−/− were exposed to 75%±2% O₂ from day P7 to P12. Mice were returned to normoxic conditions for 5 days, and on P17 animals were perfused with FITC-dextran, eyes harvested, and retina flatmounts made. Fluorescent microscopy of perfused retinas of (A) normoxic-treated wild-type mice (n = 5), (B) oxygen-treated wild-type mice (n = 5), and (C) oxygen-treated IL-10^−/− mice (n = 4) reveal decreased angiogenesis and increased areas of non-perfusion in IL-10^−/− mice. This experiment was repeated 2 additional times with similar results (D–G) H&E staining of ocular tissue sections from C57BL/6 oxygen-treated mice exhibit extensive preretinal neovascular loops (arrows), whereas (H–K) ocular tissue sections from IL-10^−/− oxygen-treated mice demonstrate a significant reduction in preretinal neovascular loops. Images were acquired at both 40× (D,F,H,J) and 100× (E,G,I,K). (L) The total area of retinal vascularization was quantified using Metamorph™ software as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003381#s4" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a>, and plotted as a bar graph. IL-10^−/− mice exposed to oxygen had significantly reduced (**P = 0.0006) retinal vascularization compared to wild-type mice exposed to oxygen. (M) A bar graph represents the mean±SD number of neovascular loops of 10 separate sections, with IL-10^−/− mice demonstrating reduced neovascular loops (**P = 0.0071) compared to wild-type mice following OIR.