Retinal Protective Effects of Resveratrol via Modulation of Nitric Oxide Synthase on Oxygen-induced Retinopathy

PURPOSE: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the leading causes of blindness, with retinal detachment occurring due to oxygen toxicity in preterm infants. Recently, advances in neonatal care have led to improved survival rates for preterm infants, and ROP has increased in incidence. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether or not resveratrol exhibits protective effects in an animal model of ROP and in primary retinal cell cultures of neonatal rat via nitric oxide (NO)-modulating actions using western blotting and real-time PCR with inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) antibodies and mRNAs. METHODS: In an in vivo oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model, cyclic hyperoxia was induced with 80% O(2) for one day and 21% O(2) for one day from P1 to P14 in newborn Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Resveratrol was injected intravitreally for seven days and rats were sacrificed at P21. In vitro OIR primary retinal cell culture was performed using P0-2 SD rats. Hyperoxia injuries were induced through 100% O(2) exposure for six hours. Western blotting and real-time PCR using iNOS, eNOS, nNOS antibodies and primers were performed in the rat model of ROP and the dispersed retinal cell culture. RESULTS: In both in vivo and in vitro OIR, the expression of iNOS antibody and mRNA was increased and of eNOS and nNOS were reduced in the resveratrol-treated group. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, resveratrol appeared to exert retinal protective effects via modulation of NO-mediated mechanism in in vivo and in vitro OIR models.