Inhibition of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization by hematoporphyrin dimethylether-mediated photodynamic therapy in rats

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of hematoporphyrin dimethylether (HDME)-mediated photodynamic therapy for laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in adult Brown Norway rats. HDME was administered via tail vein at 14d after the laser photocoagulation, and the rats received irradiance with a laser light at 570nm at 15min after injection. CNV was evaluated by fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and hematoxylin and eosin staining. We found that CNV was occurred at 7d after photocoagulation and reaching peak activity at 14d after photocoagulation. There is a significant reduction in the total area of the fluorescein leakage and the number of strong fluorescein leakage spots on 7d after HDME-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT). The results suggest that HDME-mediated PDT inhibits laser-induced CNV in rats, representing a promising therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration.