Figure 6
From: Topical Curcumin Nanocarriers are Neuroprotective in Eye Disease
Topical curcumin nanoparticles protect RGC soma in vivo against OHT induced cell loss. (A) Schematic of in-vivo experimental design. OHT rats were randomised to no treatment or once-daily curcumin nanoparticles (CN) or free Curcumin (FC) eye-drops, beginning two days prior to elevated IOP induction. Three-weeks after surgery, animals were sacrificed and retinas flat mounted before labelling with Brn3a. RGC populations were counted as previously described57,94. Representative retinal images of comparable Brn3a labelled areas of superior retina are shown in (B) Naïve control, (C) OHT untreated and (D) OHT + CN animals. (E) All OHT animals had significantly raised IOP (mean ± SE) versus baseline until 21 days after surgery (Student T-test versus contralateral eyes **p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in IOP between OHT treatment groups at any time point suggesting any neuroprotective activity observed was IOP independent. (F) Elevated IOP in OHT only eyes was associated with a significant reduction in RGC density (~23%) in agreement with previous studies57; CN but not FC treatment, significantly reduced RGC loss (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunns post test, **p < 0.01).
