Abstract

DO.02.09

Toxicity of bevacizumab to cultured human corneal endothelial cells in vitro

Meyer M. W.¹, Dryja D.¹, Reichl S.², Brunotte I.¹, Winter R.^1
1Augenklinik der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover; ²Institut für Pharmazeutische Technologie der Technischen Universität Braunschweig

Objective: To analyse the toxicity of bevacizumab to cultured human corneal endothelial cells in vitro. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the main stimulus for neovascularization in the eye. Bevacizumab (Avastin) is a monoclonal antibody, who binds all isoforms of VEGF-A. Neutralisation of VEGF is a therapeutical method to treat neovascular diseases such as macula degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or neovascular glaucoma. Therefore, bevacizumab is injected either intracameral or intravitreal.
Methods: We use secondary cultures of human corneal endothelial cells. The cultures were treated with bevacizumab in different dosages (1,0mg, 1,25mg and 5mg) for 24 and 72 hours. This corresponds to the usually injected intracameral and intravitreal or the four- to fivehold dosis. The toxicity is analysed by the tests CytoTox-ONE^TM, CellTiter Blue^TM and CellTiter Glo^TM.
Results: No toxicity of bevacizumab to corneal endothelial cells was detected in all dosages. Only the viability of the corneal endothelial cells was marginally reduced.
Conclusions: No toxic effect of bevacizumab to corneal endothelial cells was detected. Therefore, we expect no damage of corneal endothelial cells by using bevacizumab in clinical practise. The reduced viability of the cultured cells with increased concentration of bevacizumab is explained by the reduced medium and nutrients.

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