Effects of Ankaferd hemostat on retinal apoptosis in an experimental rabbit retinal model

Objective: To assess ultrastructural alterations and cellular apoptotic effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper® (ABS) in an experimental rabbit retinal model. Retinal changes following the intravitreal injection of ABS were investigated on ten retina tissues of five rabbits. Material and Methods: ABS was injected into the vitreous of right eye of five rabbits. The left eyes of rabbits received an intravitreal injection of balanced salt solution and were used as the control group. Oxidative damage, apoptosis, protein carbonylation and DNA fragmentation were studied. Results: In the ABS injected eyes, the results of sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) pattern of a few protein bands were up-regulated whereas some other bands showed down-regulation. The apoptosis was delayed, indicated by the morphological analyses and caspase activity in the ABS injected eyes. Furthermore, ABS-induced protein carbonyle formation and DNA fragmentation were also demonstrated in the rabbit retina. Conclusion: ABS has de novo effects on apoptosis. ABS-induced down-regulations in the expressions of apoptotic molecules in the retinal microenvironment indicated that ABS might act as a topical biological response modifier. Intravitreal injection of ABS also has cytotoxic effects. Since ABS is currently being developed in basic and clinical grounds, those novel observations will guide future studies focusing on the pleiotropic effects of this unique hemostatic agent.