Protective Effect of Pioglitazone on Retinal Ganglion Cells in an Experimental Mouse Model of Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

The aim was to assess the protective effect of pioglitazone (PGZ) on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) in diabetic and non-diabetic mice. Adult C57BL/6 mice with induced diabetes were divided into three groups: group 1: oral PGZ (20 mg/kg) in 0.1% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for 4 weeks; group 2: oral PGZ (10 mg/kg) in 0.1% DMSO for 4 weeks; and group 3: oral DMSO only for 4 weeks (control group). Two weeks after treatment, AION was induced through photochemical thrombosis. For non-diabetic mice, adult C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups after AION was induced: group 1: oral DMSO for 4 weeks; group 2: oral PGZ (20 mg/kg) in 0.1% DMSO for 4 weeks; group 3: oral PGZ (20 mg/kg) in 0.1% DMSO + peritoneal injection of GW9662 (one kind of PPAR-γ inhibitor) (1 mg/kg) for 4 weeks; group 4: peritoneal injection of GW9662 (1 mg/kg) for 4 weeks; One week after the induction of AION in diabetic mice, apoptosis in RGCs was much lower in group 1 (8.0 ± 4.9 cells/field) than in group 2 (24.0 ± 11.5 cells/field) and 3 (25.0 ± 7.7 cells/field). Furthermore, microglial cell infiltration in the retina (group 1: 2.0 ± 2.6 cells/field; group 2: 15.6 ± 3.5 cells/field; and group 3: 14.8 ± 7.5 cells/field) and retinal thinning (group 1: 6.7 ± 5.7 μm; group 2: 12.8 ± 6.1 μm; and group 3: 15.8 ± 5.8 μm) were also lower in group 1 than in the other two groups. In non-diabetic mice, preserved Brn3A⁺ cells were significantly greater in group 2 (2382 ± 140 Brn3A+ cells/mm², n = 7) than in group 1 (1920 ± 228 Brn3A+ cells/mm²; p = 0.03, n = 4), group 3 (1938 ± 213 Brn3A+ cells/mm²; p = 0.002, n = 4), and group 4 (2138 ± 126 Brn3A+ cells/mm²; p = 0.03, n = 4), respectively; PGZ confers protection to RGCs from damage caused by ischemic optic neuropathy in diabetic and non-diabetic mice.