Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between acute intraocular hypertension and lateral geniculate neurons autophagy and apoptosis in rats. Methods Ninety Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, experimental, and 3-methyladenine(3-MA)groups. Each group was divided into 5 subgroups. The control group only received anterior chamber penetration. An acute intraocular hypertension rat model was established using the anterior chamber perfusion technique. The rats in the 3-MA group were injected with 3-MA. At 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 3 d, and 5 d after the injection, LC3-Ⅱ and Beclin-1 expression in the lateral geniculate nucleus were detected using immunohistochemistry. The apoptotic level in the nerve cells was measured using the dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling(TUNEL)assay. Results LC3-Ⅱ and Beclin-1 was expressed in the experimental and 3-MA groups at 6 h, and the levels peaked at 24 h and then gradually returned to baseline levels. However, the expression levels of LC3-Ⅱ and Beclin-1 in the 3-MA group were lower than those in the experimental group at each time point(P<0.05). On the basis of the TUNEL assay results, we found that the apoptosis rate peaked at 3 d in the experimental and 3-MA groups. The apoptosis rate remained high at 5 d. The apoptosis rate was lower in the experimental group than in the 3-MA group at each time point after 24 h(P<0.05). Conclusion Acute intraocular hypertension in rats can lead to lateral geniculate neuron autophagy and apoptosis. Autophagy in lateral geniculate neurons may be a protective factor for neurons.

Key words: Lateral geniculate neurons, Acute intraocular hypertension, Autophagy, Apoptosis