To investigate whether αB-
crystallin protects against acute
retinal ischemic
reperfusion injury (I/R) and elucidate the potential
antioxidant mechanisms.
Retinal I/R injury was made by elevating the intraocular pressure (IOP) 110 mmHg for 60 min, and αB-
crystallin (1 × 10-5 g/L) or vehicle
solution was administered intravitreously immediately after I/R injury. The animal was sacrificed 24 h, 1 w, and 1 m after the I/R injury. The retina damage was detected by
hematoxylin and
eosin (HE) staining and electroretinography (ERG). The level of
malondialdehyde (MDA),
nitric oxide (NO), and the total
superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) was determined. An immunohistochemical study was performed to detect the activation of
inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NF- (
nuclear factor-) kappaB (NF-κB) p65. The decrease of
retinal thickness and the number of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) can be suppressed by αB-
crystallin. And the amplitudes of a- and b-wave were remarkably greater without αB-
crystallin. Similarly, αB-
crystallin also significantly decreased the level of MDA and NO and enhanced the activities of T-SOD. The positive expression of iNOS and
NF-kappaB p65 was obviously reduced while treated with αB-
crystallin. αB-
crystallin can inhibit the expression of NF-κB and its antioxidative effect to protect the retina from I/R injury.