Correction of ischemic optic neuropathy in rats by carbamylated darbepoetin Anna A. Peresypkina 1 1 Belgorod State National Research University, 85 Pobedy St., Belgorod, 308015 Russia Corresponding author: Anna A. Peresypkina (peresypkina_a@bsu.edu.ru) Academic editor: Oleg Gudyrev ♦ Received 29 December 2017 ♦ Accepted 19 March 2018 ♦ Published 28 March 2018 Citation: Peresypkina AA (2018) Correction of ischemic optic neuropathy in rats by carbamylated darbepoetin. Research Results in Pharmacology 4(1): 43–50. https://doi.org/10.3897/rrpharmacology.4.25262 Abstract Introduction: The protective efects of carbamylated darbepoetin on the model of ischemic optic neuropathy in rats were revealed. Objectives: To increase the efectiveness of pharmacological correction of experimental ischemic optic neuropathy in an experiment by using carbamylated darbepoetin. Methods: Measuring the microcirculation level in the retina of rats was carried out using laser Doppler fowmetry (LDF). Registration was done by the data acquisition system Biopac-systems MP-150 and AcqKnowledge 4.2 pro- gramme. For microscopy and morphometry, the prepared microslides were scanned using Mirax Desk, a computerised archiving and image analysis system. Image analysis and morphometry were carried out by Pannoramic Viewer 1.15.4. Results and discussion: In the group with correction of ischemic optic neuropathy by carbamylated darbepoetin, 300 μg/kg, the microcirculation level increases by 41.9%, p<0.05 in comparison with the control group, but also below the norm values by 20.3%, p<0.05. In the group with correction by recombinant erythropoietin, 50 IU/kg, the micro- circulation rate increases by 36.7%, p<0.05 in comparison with the control group and signifcantly lower - by 23.3%, p<0.05 - in comparison with the group of intact animals. Qualitative and quantitative morphological indices (thickness of retinal layers) helped to reveal a neuroprotective efect of carbamylated darbepoetin to a greater extent than that of recombinant erythropoietin. Conclusion: The obtained data allow drawing a conclusion about partial restoration of blood fow and preservation of neuronal retinal structures when correcting ischemic optic neuropathy in rats with carbamylated darbepoetin to a greater extent than with recombinant erythropoietin. Keywords ischemic optic neuropathy, rats, carbamylated darbepoetin, morphometry, retinal microcirculation Introduction Ischemic optic neuropathy usually has a sudden onset, in some cases there is a progressive visual loss within 2 weeks (Riordan-Eva 2004). The clinical signs of op- tic neuropathy are acute or chronic vision loss with a visual feld defect, dyschromatopsia and a relative afer- ent pupillary defect (Prasad et al. 2010, Behbehani 2007, Hornyak et al. 2009). In order to make a correct diagno- sis, it is necessary to examine the eye fundus (Rizzo et al. Copyright Peresypkina AA. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Research Results in Pharmacology 4(1): 43–50 UDC: 57.084.1 DOI 10.3897/rrpharmacology.4.25262 Research Article