J Retin.  2022 May;7(1):1-8. 10.21561/jor.2022.7.1.1.

Effect of Alcohol on Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells and Angiogenesis

• Jung S
• Chin HS

• KMID: 2552152
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21561/jor.2022.7.1.1

Abstract

Purpose
To evaluate the effect of alcohol on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and angiogenesis of vascular endothelial cells.
Methods
To investigate the direct effect of alcohol on VEGF expression, RPE cells were exposed to bevacizumab 0.5 mg/mL, ethanol 600 mMol, and bevacizumab 0.5 mg/mL + ethanol 600 mMol, and the amount of VEGF expression was detected by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. In another experiment, RPE cells were treated with bevacizumab 0.5 mg/mL, ethanol 600 mMol, VEGF 5 ng/mL, bevacizumab 0.5 mg/mL + ethanol 600 mMol, and bevacizumab 0.5 mg/mL + VEGF 5 ng/mL for 24 hours; the medium was then used in the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) capillary tube formation assay to investigate the effect on the formation of new vessels. To analyze angiogenesis, the number of extremities, branches and total branch length were analyzed using the ImageJ software.
Results
No significant increase was observed for VEGF expression in the ethanol group. VEGF expression was also not detected in the bevacizumab and bevacizumab + ethanol groups. For HUVEC capillary tube formation, the number of extremities in ethanol, VEGF, bevacizumab + ethanol, and bevacizumab + VEGF groups were significantly increased as compared to control. Also, the number of branches and total branch length showed statistically significant increase in the ethanol and VEGF groups.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that alcohol has a positive effect on new vessel formation but does not increase VEGF in RPE cells. These results imply that consuming alcohol may be associated with neovascularization or the disease activity of age-related macular degeneration and anti-VEGF treatment response.

Keyword

Alcohols; Choroidal neovascularization; Intravitreal injection; Macular degeneration; Vascular endothelial growth factor