Abstract: Objective: To investigate the protective effect of monosialoganglioside GM-1 on rat retinal tissues and the influence of GM-1 on NF-κB after ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods: Seventy-five healthy adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the control group(n=5), the NS group(n=35) and the GM-1 group(n=35). The control group received no treatment. Rats in the other 2 groups received complete retinal ischemia by increasing the intraocular pressure for 60 minutes and they were intraperitonially injected to 3 ml·kg-1 NS or 3 ml·kg-1 GM-1 at 12 and 1 hour before and immediately after ischemia. According to the survival time after reperfusion, the experimental 2 groups were subdivided into 7 time points: 0 (only ischemia), 1, 6, 12, 24, 72 and 168 hours after ischemia. Morphological changes and mean thickness of the inner retinal layers (MTIRL) of the retina were determined under light microscopy. Expression of NFκB was determined by the immunohistochemistry method. Results: Rats inner retinas had the lesion process of edema and atrophy after ischemiareperfusion injury.gradually decreased. Pathological changes of retina and activation of NFκB were obviously relieved by GM-1. Conclusion: GM-1 definitely protects against retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury and it is a potential agent for retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Key words: Ganglioside, Retina, Reperfusion injury, NF-κB