Oral Administration of Lumiracoxib Reduces Choroidal Neovascular Membrane Development in the Rat Laser-Trauma Model

In Brief Purpose: To determine whether lumiracoxib, a highly selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor that exhibits anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic properties, can inhibit experimental choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) development induced by focal laser trauma in a well-characterized Brown Norway rat CNVM model. Methods: Over a 35-day period, 24 rats received daily oral gavage dosages of 20 mg/kg lumiracoxib in a 0.5% (w/v) suspension of sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), while a control group received the 0.5% CMC suspension only. After 7 days, eight laser photocoagulation sites were placed concentrically around the optic disk to induce CNVMs. Thirty-five days later, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography (FA) were performed and eyes were processed for histopathologic analysis. Results: Masked FA grading of lesion sites revealed a small, but statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001) in late stage staining intensity and leakage between the mean group scores of treated (1.4) and control (1.7) eyes. Histopathologic analysis demonstrated that the mean CNVM thickness ± SD of 38 ± 19 μm (n = 24 eyes, 175 photocoagulation sites) in the lumiracoxib-treated animals was reduced by 30% (P < 0.001) compared to the CNVM mean thickness ± SD of 54 ± 20 μm (n = 24 eyes, 171 photocoagulation sites) in the control animals. Conclusion: Systemic administration of the selective COX-2 inhibitor lumiracoxib results in a partial but significant reduction in CNVM development in the rat laser-trauma model and thus may be clinically beneficial as a potential inhibitor of CNVM formation in exudative age-related macular degeneration. Lumiracoxib currently is the most selective COX-2 inhibitor of angiogenesis. Oral administration of lumiracoxib in an animal model of choroidal neovascular membrane formation determined that this agent significantly reduced the extent of choroidal neovascular membrane development by approximately 30% as compared to that measured in control animals.