Liposomal prostaglandin E1 enhances optic nerve head blood flow in cats.

We investigated the effects of intravenous administration of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and lipo-prostaglandin E1 (lipo-PGE1), on optic nerve head blood flow (ONHBF) using ten anesthetized cats. Changes in relative ONHBF were noninvasively and continuously measured with fundus camera-based laser Doppler flowmetry. The blood pressure (BP) decreased significantly by 6 +/- 5 (mean +/- SD)% and 8 +/- 4%, respectively, after PGE1 (30, 100 ng/kg/min) administration, but at either of these concentrations there were no significant changes in ONHBF. On the other hand, with lipo-PGE1 (10 ng/kg/min), the BP remained unchanged, but ONHBF increased significantly by 61 +/- 49%. A larger dose of lipo-PGE1 (30 ng/kg/min) had opposite effects because the BP decreased significantly by 14 +/- 4% after administration, and the ONHBF remained unchanged (i.e., 67 +/- 102%). In all cases, there were no changes in IOP. With 10 ng lipo-PGE1, the large increase in ONHBF can be accounted for by vasodilation since perfusion pressure was unchanged. The inability of 30 ng lipo-PGE1 to affect ONHBF could be ascribed to the decrease in BP resulting in decreased ocular circulation. These results suggest that, in humans, lipo-PGE1 may also increase ONHBF provided that it is used at doses that do not produce large decreases in BP.