[The role of retinal pigment epithelium in the early stage of development of subretinal neovascularization].

In order to evaluate the role of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in the early stage of experimental subretinal neovascularization, we severely damaged RPE cells before the development of subretinal neovascularization. Three adult rhesus monkeys were used in this study. One mol/l l-ornithine hydrochloride saline solution was injected intravitreously at 2 weeks before intense krypton laser photocoagulation on the retina at the posterior pole, and clinical and histopathological course were studied at 1 to 28 days after photocoagulation. As a result, no evidence of new vessel formation could be observed clinically throughout the entire course. Histopathologically, at 3 days after photocoagulation, slight proliferation of RPE cells was identified by electron microscopy at the margin of the laser lesions, and budding of vascular endothelial cells derived from choroidal microvessels was observed in the choroid. However, no newly-formed vessels extended into the subretinal space at 7 days or more after photocoagulation. These results confirmed our hypothesis that proliferated RPE cells had inductive effect on the growth of endothelial cells in the early stage of development of subretinal neovascularization.