Preservation of Retina Ganglion Cell Function by Morphine in a Chronic Ocular-Hypertensive Rat Model

PURPOSE. The current study examined if opioid-receptor-activation by morphine can improve retinal function and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) integrity in a chronic glaucoma rat model. METHODS. IOP was raised in Brown Norway rats by injecting hypertonic saline into the limbal venous system. Rats were treated daily with 1 mg/kg morphine for 28 days at 24-hour intervals; animals were examined for changes in IOP by a TonoLab tonometer. Pattern-ERG (PERG) was obtained in response to contrast-reversal of patterned visual stimuli. RGCs were visualized by fluorogold retrograde-labeling. Changes in the expression pattern of TNF-alpha and caspases were measured by Western blotting. RESULTS. A significant IOP elevation was seen as early as 7 days, and maintained for up to 8 weeks, after surgery. PERG amplitudes were significantly reduced in ocular-hypertensive eyes (15.84 +/- 0.74 mu volts) when compared with normal eyes (19 +/- 0.86 mu volts). PERG deficits in hypertensive eyes were reversed by morphine treatment (18.23 +/- 0.78 mu volts; P < 0.05). In untreated rats, a 24% reduction in labeled RGCs was measured in the hypertensive eye compared with the normal eye. This reduction in RGC labeling was significantly ameliorated in the presence of morphine. In retinal samples, TNF-alpha, caspase-8, and caspase-3 expressions were significantly upregulated in ocular hypertensive eyes, but completely inhibited in the morphine-treated animals. CONCLUSIONS. These data provide evidence that activation of opioid receptors can provide significant improvement in PERG and RGC integrity against glaucomatous injury. Mechanistic data provide clues that activation of one or more opioid receptors can reduce glaucomatous-injury via suppression of TNF-alpha and caspase activation. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:4289-4298) DOI:10.1167/iovs.12-9467