AIM:To detect the protective effect of curcumin for retinal ganglion cells(RGCs)in adult rabbits with acute intraocular hypertension.

METHODS: Twenty-four adult rabbits were divided randomly into normal control group, model group and curcumin group. Except normal control group, the rabbit model with acute ocular hypertension was established by increasing intraocular pressure through anterior chamber infusion. After the establishment of the model, rabbits in curcumin group were injected intravitreally with curcumin(0.1mg/0.1mL)for 7d. Rabbits in mdodel group were injected with physiological saline replaced of the same volume curcumin. The oculars in normal control group without any treatments were acquired directly. The levels of Thy-1 in RGCs were detected by immunohistochemistry. The density of RGCs was counted too.

RESULTS: Thy-1 expressed in the RGCs in normal control group and curcumin group had no significant difference(P>0.05).While the difference between model group and normal control group on Thy-1 expression was statistically significant(P<0.05). The density of RGCs in curcumin group, normal control group and model group were 20.3±2.7, 21.5±1.8 and 15.1±2.3 cells/HP.

CONCLUSION: In this study on curcumin in adult rabbits with acute ocular hypertension, curcumin can increase the expression of Thy-1, which shows that it can partly reduce the injury of RGCs in rabbits with acute intraocular hypertension and curcumin may be able to protect the retina under certain situation.