Aim: To evaluate the safety and the short term apoptotic activity of intravitreal bevacizumab in rabbit eyes by histopathological analysis.
Methods: Twenty-eight eyes of 14 rabbits were divided into three groups: 8 rabbits in group 1 and 3 rabbits in each of group 2 and group 3. Intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25mg/0.05mL) was applied to the right eyes of each subject in group 1 and group 2 (11 eyes) and the same volume of saline was applied to the left eyes of each subject in group 1 and group 3 (11 eyes). The left eyes in group 2 and the right eyes in group 3 were left untreated and used as control. Enucleated eyes were used for histopathologic analyses.
Results: After immunohistochemical staining with caspase-3 and p53, there was no histological evidence of toxicity to the retina and the optic nerve in any of the sections that were analyzed in all three groups. In addition, vascular endothelial cells located at the retina and the optic nerve tissues in all groups showed a similar staining pattern with caspase-3 and p53.
Conclusion: Our study showed that intravitreal bevacizumab with the dose of 1.25mg/0.05mL caused no histological signs of toxicity or apoptotic activity on the rabbit retina.
Keywords: apoptotic activity; bevacizumab; retina; toxicity.