An experimental study of resveratrol effect on neurotrophic and structural changes in retinal ischemia

Purpose. To investigate the effect of resveratrol antioxidant on neurotrophic and structural changes of retina/choroid tissue complex in experimental ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury of retina induced by endothelin-1 (ET-1) injection in rats. Material and methods. 60 male Wistar albino rats were divided into 3 groups. 50 rats underwent I/R (Group 1 [n = 20]; Group 2 [n = 30]) while 10 animals served as controls. Retinal I/R was induced in Group 1 and Group 2 by subconjunctival injection of 0.2 mL 4 x 10-6 М ET-1. The animals in Group 1 received no resveratrol; those in Group 2 received 20 mg/kg resveratrol per os during 1 month before I/R and continued to receive it after I/R up to the moment they were euthanazied. Factors regulating mitochondrial apoptosis (BAX/BCL-2) and external pathways of apoptosis (sFas/FasL), inflammatory marker — monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (МСР-1) and neurotrophic factors – brain-derived neurotrofic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) were quantified in retinal/choroidal tissue homogenates. In each group, laboratory assessment of retina/choroid complex samples and morphological investigations were performed 3 days (16 eyes), 7 days (16 eyes), 30 days (18 eyes) after ischemia. Results. After 30 days, a statistically significant decrease of apoptotic factors BAX/BCL-2 (p < 0.001) and reduced level of MCP-1 in animals of Group 2 (p < 0.05) as compared to those in Group 1 were noted. The histological examination of the retina on day 3 showed reduced retinal ischemic lesions and signs of inflammation, decrease of the apoptosis of ganglion cells and zones of preserved retina with intact nuclear layers and a layer of photoreceptors in late post-ischemic period (after 30 days). Conclusions. The experimental results demonstrate that resveratrol has neuroprotective properties after retinal I/R injury. This suggests that resveratrol has therapeutic potential in the treatment of diseases of the retina and optic nerve