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Bevacizumab inhibits corneal angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis in animal model
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Topical or systemic bevacizumab can slow inflammation-induced corneal angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, according to a study involving mice.
Felix Bock, MD, and colleagues at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, and Jerini AG, Berlin, investigated the antihemangiogenic and antilymphangiogenic effects of bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) using a mouse model of suture-induced corneal neovascularization.
The researchers found that both systemic and topical administration of the drug significantly reduced the outgrowth of blood vessels (P < .006 and P < .0001, respectively) and lymphatic vessels (P < .002 and P < .0001, respectively). It also significantly inhibited the proliferation of lens epithelial cells (P < .0001), according to the study.
"This finding suggests an important role of VEGF-A in corneal lymphangiogenesis," the authors said in the study. "Bevacizumab may be useful in preventing immune rejections after penetrating keratoplasty or tumor metastasis via lymphatic vessels."
The study is published in the June issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.