@article {L{\"u}ke1396, author = {M L{\"u}ke and K Januschowski and J L{\"u}ke and S Peters and N Wirtz and E Y{\"o}r{\"u}k and C L{\"u}ke and K U Bartz-Schmidt and S Grisanti and P Szurman}, title = {The effects of ranibizumab (Lucentis) on retinal function in isolated perfused vertebrate retina}, volume = {93}, number = {10}, pages = {1396--1400}, year = {2009}, doi = {10.1136/bjo.2009.157511}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Background: Intraocular ranibizumab (Lucentis, Novartis, Basel Switzerland) is the primary choice in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be a survival factor for neuronal cells. Therefore, blockage of all VEGF isoforms by ranibizumab could induce retinal dysfunction.Methods: Using isolated bovine retinas, the electroretinogram (ERG) was recorded as a transretinal potential using Ag/AgCl electrodes, while the retinas were perfused with an oxygen preincubated nutrient solution. For 45 min, ranibizumab was applied at a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml and alternatively the solvent carrier without the active agent. The ERG was monitored before, during and after exposure.Results: The concentration of 0.2 mg/ml ranibizumab induced a non-significant b-wave reduction of 22.32\% after exposure (p = 0.13). For the a-wave amplitude only a reduction of 4\% was detected (p = 0.18). The solvent carrier induced no significant reduction of the a- and b-wave amplitudes (p = 0.30 and p = 0.979, respectively).Conclusion: In the ex vivo model, the isolated perfused vertebrate retina, ranibizumab has been proven to be a safe compound at the concentrations applied. The stability of the ERG-amplitudes rules out a considerable retinal dysfunction after an injection of up to 1 mg ranibizumab.}, issn = {0007-1161}, URL = {https://bjo.bmj.com/content/93/10/1396}, eprint = {https://bjo.bmj.com/content/93/10/1396.full.pdf}, journal = {British Journal of Ophthalmology} }