DHEA Analogue Neuroprotection in an Experimental Model of Retinal Detachment

Purpose To evaluate the neuroprotective activity of a new synthetic analogue of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in an experimental model of retinal detachment (RD). Methods Sprague Dawley rats underwent a retinal detachment in their right eye under deep anesthesia while the left eye was served as a control. Animals were dived into three groups and injected with the synthetic DHEA analogue. The analogue can be detected in the rat retina after intraperitoneal injection. Animals received intraperitonealy 10 mg of the analogue diluted in 70 ul of ethanol in a total volume of 1 ml WFI per animal. In the first group the injections were administered after RD while in the other two groups (group 2 and 3) a pretreatment was utilized starting 7 days before RD (every day and every second day, respectively). The animals were sacrificed three days after RD, the eyes were enucleated and prepared for TUNEL labeling and confocal microscopy. Results Morphological analysis revealed that the phenotype is rescued when the administration of the analogue begins before retinal detachment, with only a few cells labeled positive after TUNEL staining in groups 2 and 3. Administration of the drug only after the retinal detachment (group 1) seemed to have less anti‐apoptotic effect. Conclusion Our results suggest that this molecule may prove to be anti‐apoptotic in retinal detachment induced apoptosis. Further investigation is required for the most efficient treatment and drug dosage in several time points of the apoptotic process.