Comparison of the effect of Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab in the experimental diabetic retinopathy rat model

The aim of this study; compares the effect of ramucirumab and bevacizumab in an experimental diabetic rat model induced with streptozocin. In the study, 8-10 weeks old 40 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly selected and divided into four groups with 10 rats in each group. Only 0.1 M sodium-citrate was administered intraperitoneally (i.p) to the Control group at the beginning of the experiment. In Sham, Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups, 60 mg/kg streptozosin was dissolved in 0.1 M sodium-citrate buffer at the beginning of the experiment and i.p. was administered as a single dose. Sham group did not take any action until the end of the experiment. Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups were administered 2.5 mg/kg bevacizumab and 8 mg/kg ramucirumab ip, respectively, at the beginning of the 12th week of the experiment. At the end of 12 weeks, 28 rats were decapitated and both eyes were enucleated. Retinal vessel numbers and neovascularization were significantly increased in Sham group rats compared to Control, Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups. In the Sham, Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups, hyanilization findings were observed in the capillary vessels in the retinal ganglion layer. VEGFA levels were statistically significantly lower in the Control, Bevacizumab, and Ramucirumab groups compared to the Sham group (p: 0.023, p: 0.020, p: 0.023, respectively). SOD levels were statistically significantly higher in the Control, Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups compared to the Sham group (p: 0.002, p: 0.003, p: 0.002, respectively). Compared to the Sham group, IL-1β levels were statistically significantly lower in the Control, Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups (p: 0.002, p: 0.009, p: 0.025, respectively). IL-1β levels were significantly higher in the Bevacizumab and Ramucirumab groups compared to the control group (p: 0.048, p: 0.013, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in TGFβ1 levels. The findings we obtained in our study; shows that we have established an experimental diabetic retinopathy model and shows that ramucirumab provides a better improvement in DRP findings histopathologically and biochemically than bevacizumab. Keywords: Experimental Diabetic Retinopathy, Anti-VEGF, Bevacizumab, Ramucirumab