Role of Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide and Bevacizumab in Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinase and Inhibitor in Rabbit Penetrating Injury Model

To assess the effects of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide and bevacizumab on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2 and its inhibitor TIMP-1 in an experimental rabbit model of penetrating injury.

An accurate experimental study of five left eyes as negative control and 27 eyes with penetrating injury with or without treatment from 27 rabbits.

A total of 30 New Zealand rabbits were recruited, and penetrating injury was performed in the superotemporal quadrant of the right eye by making incisions 5 mm horizontally and 6 mm behind the limbus. The rabbits were split into five groups: OGI, intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide, and bevacizumab, with varying injection timings (n = 6 per group). All eyes were inspected and analyzed by assessing the expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1.

Statistical analysis was performed using the Prism GraphPad 9. Statistical calculations were made by ANOVA test. All descriptive data are presented as mean+standard deviation. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant statistically.

The expression of MMP-2 in the treatment group was considerably lower than in control penetrating injury group (8,36±1,699, p<0,0001), conversely TIMP-1 expression was higher in the treatment group (4,72±1,026, P 0,0593). Fibrosis was assessed with HE staining and primarily detected in positive control groups.

TA and bevacizumab treatments after penetrating injury effectively inhibited the elevation of MMP-2 and decreased the expression of TIMP-1 in the retina and wound site tissue, respectively. It reduces the possibility of acquiring posttraumatic PVR.