Study on the Inhibition of Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist on the Growth of Corneal Neovascularization and the Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

To investigate the effect of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist(IL-1ra)on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and the growth of corneal neovascularization(CNV),16 CNV models were constructed by corneal suture and randomly divided into CNV group and IL-1ra group,and 8 rats were used as normal control group. New vessels were observed with a slit lamp microscope after 1 and 2 weeks,respectively and CNV area was calculated in different groups. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of VEGF 1 week after surgery. The results showed that no CNV was observed in normal control group,and more CNV was found in CNV group than that in IL-1ra group,which indicated that IL-1ra inhibited CNV significantly. The expression of VEGF was markedly increased in CNV group in comparison with IL-1ra group. CNV area followed a similar pattern. IL-1ra inhibited the growth of CNV through inhibiting the expression of VEGF.