Effect of trimetazidine on retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

To investigate the effect of trimetazidine (TMZ), an antioxidant agent, on the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rat retina histopathological ly. M ethods:The retinal I/R model was carried out by the 4-vessel occlusion meth od on Wistar albino rats. Twenty-one rats were divided into 7 groups, each comprising 3 rats. The animals in groups 1, 2 and 3 underwent 30 min of isc hemia + 4 h of reperfusion and were treated by the administration of saline , TMZ before reperfusion and TMZ before ischemia, respectively. The animals in groups 4, 5 and 6 underwent 90 min of ischemia + 4 h of reperfusion and were treated in the same way as those in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The 7th group was sham operated. Results: Thirty and 90 min of ischemia fol lowed by 4 h of reperfusion induced retinal injury in the rat retina. Histo pathologically, the inner plexiform and inner nuclear layers were the most affected parts. TMZ was able to reduce almost all retinal I/R damage when a dministered before ischemia. A cytoprotective effect of TMZ was partly obse rved in those animals which were treated before reperfusion. Conclusion: TM Z seemed to have a protective effect against retinal I/R injury in rats. Co pyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.