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Ghrelin’s MRNA levels in the developing rat’s eye
Author(s) -
ROCHA DE SOUSA A,
RAMOSTAVARES M,
TELES A,
LEITEMOREIRA AF
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2008.402.x
Subject(s) - ghrelin , cornea , sclera , fundus (uterus) , retina , iris (biosensor) , stomach , retinal , biology , glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase , messenger rna , ophthalmology , andrology , endocrinology , medicine , gene , hormone , biochemistry , computer security , neuroscience , computer science , biometrics
Purpose The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of ghrelin the late phase of development of the rat eye. Methods Wistar rats (n=16) were euthanized 22 days post‐conception (n=8) or 15 days after delivery (n=8). The eye globes were enucleated and dissected, and the cornea, iris, lens, retina and sclera were microdissected. A portion of the gastric fundus was also collected. The lens could only be isolated 15 days after birth.To evaluate the levels of ghrelin mRNA in the distinct eye tissues and the stomach an equal amount of total mRNA of each sample (50ng) underwent two‐step real‐time RT‐PCR with specific primers. Glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and β actin were used as internal controls. Data is presented as mean±SE in relative expression units. Comparisons were performed with two way ANOVA. Results GAPDH and β actin mRNA levels differed between tissues, precluding their usage as internal control genes, nevertheless, β‐actin levels were similar in the iris and retina and the expression of ghrelin normalized for β‐actin did not differ at birth or 15 days after between iris (1.0±0.3 and 0.4±0.3, respectively) and retina (1.2±0.3 and 0.5±0.3, respectively). Absolute ghrelin mRNA levels were also not different at birth or 15 days after in each of the tissues evaluated but were higher in the retina (1.0±0.2) than in the cornea (0.4±0.1), sclera (0.5±0.1) and gastric fundus (0.3±0.1). The lens showed the lowest value of expression (0.1±0.0). Conclusion Ghrelin is more expressed in the newborn retina than in the stomach, lens, cornea and sclera. The expression in the iris and retina is similar. The high expression of ghrelin in some tissues of the eye at these stages suggests it may have a role in the eye's development.