Latanoprost eye drops induce conjunctival lymphatic vessel development.

AIM

To investigate the effect of latanoprost eye drops on the conjunctival lymphatics.

METHODS

Twenty-four healthy New Zealand White rabbits weighing 1.5 to 2.0 kg were randomly divided into three groups: latanoprost group (=8) administered with latanoprost eye drops once a day for 2mo, carteolol group (=8) administered with carteolol eye drops once a day for 2mo, and control group (=8) without any treatment. The conjunctival tissues in the three groups were extracted to investigate the expression levels of 5'-nucleotidase (5'-Nase) by Western blot, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunofluorescence staining, respectively.

RESULTS

The protein expression level of 5'-Nase was significantly higher in latanoprost group than carteolol group (=231.175, <0.001) and control group (<0.001), while there was no significant difference between the carteolol group and the control group (>0.05). The mRNA expression level of 5'-Nase in the latanoprost group was also significantly higher than carteolol group (=71.169 <0.005) and control group (<0.005). The conjunctival lymphatics were positive immunofluorescence stained with the 5'-Nase antibodies in the latanoprost group and not stained in the control group.

CONCLUSION

Latanoprost eye drops can induce conjunctival lymphangiogenesis which may be concerned in clinical implications.