SCIENTIFIC REPORT

Inhibition of experimental corneal neovascularisation by bevacizumab (Avastin)

Roberta P A Manzano^1,2, Gholam A Peyman¹, Palwasha Khan¹, Petros E Carvounis¹, Muhamet Kivilcim³, Min Ren¹, Jonathan C Lake² and Patricia Chévez-Barrios¹

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
² Department of Ophthalmology, Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
³ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr G A Peyman
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Arizona, 655 N Alvernon Way, Ste 108, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA; ccole{at}eyes.arizona.edu

Aim: To evaluate the effect of topically administered bevacizumab (Avastin) on experimental corneal neovascularisation in rats.

Methods: Silver nitrate sticks (75% silver nitrate, 25% potassium nitrate) were used to perform chemical cauterisation on the corneas of 16 eyes from 16 male Long Evans rats. For the following 7 days, the 10 eyes in the treatment group were instilled with bevacizumab 4 mg/ml drops twice daily, whereas the 6 eyes in the control group received placebo (normal saline drops twice daily). Digital photographs of the cornea were analysed to determine the area of cornea covered by neovascularisation as a percentage of the total corneal area.

Results: In the bevacizumab-treated eyes, neovascularisation covered, on average, 38.2% (15.5%) (mean (SD)) of the corneal surface compared with 63.5% (5.0%) in the control group (p<0.02, Mann–Whitney U test).

Conclusion: Topically administered bevacizumab (Avastin) at a concentration of 4 mg/ml limits corneal neovascularisation following chemical injury in the male Long Evans rat model.

Abbreviations: VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor

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