Decreased Protein Expression of P2X2 in the Retina of Type 1 Diabetic Rats Treated with Suramin and PPADS

GALLO, JE; MANCINI, J.

Seattle

Conferencia; ARVO Annual Meeting; 2013

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology

Purpose: We have previously shown that inflammatory markers and P2X2 were up-regulated in the retina of diabetic rats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protein expression of P2X2 in the retina of diabetic animals treated by purinergic antagonists Methods: Sixteen male Wistar rats of 250gr were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of 45mg/kg of streptozotocin. Only animals with glycemia levels above 200mg/dl were included in the study. The treated animals were divided into three groups of 4 rats. These were intraperitoneally injected with: 1) Suramin, 2) PPADS, 3) Suramin + PPADS at 9 and 26 weeks of diabetes in each group. Four remaining diabetic animals received no treatment. Twelve non-diabetic rats with the same age of diabetics were used as a control group. Animals were sacrificed after 38 weeks of diabetes. Retinas were analyzed by Western Blot using a primary antibody against P2X2. Results: Protein expression of P2X2 was much higher in diabetics without treatment than in controls. Diabetic rats treated with Suramin, PPADS and the combined compound had a significantly lower expression of P2X2 than that found in diabetic animals without treatment. Conclusions: P2X2 receptor seems to play a role in diabetic retinopathy development. This purinergic receptor could be a target for the treatment of this disease