The effect of 0.2% cyclosporin A (CsA) as an adjuvant therapy after glaucoma-filtering surgery was the focus of this study.

A posterior lip sclerotomy was performed in 16 eyes of 8 rabbits, and 0.2% CsA was administered into the right eyes. The left eyes served as controls. The intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 28 days after surgery. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and anti-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunocytochemical staining were performed at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks.

The IOP at 7 and 14 days after surgery was lower in the 0.2% CsA group and statistically significant ( P =0.047, P =0.48; respectively). HE staining did not show any difference between experimental and control eyes, but anti-BrdU staining showed a lower number of positive cells in the experimental eyes at 1 week. The fibroblast proliferation rate was significantly lower 1 week after surgery in the 0.2% CsA group ( P =0.003).

An effect of 0.2% CsA on early wound healing was observed. The data suggest that a low concentration of CsA can be useful when employed as adjuvant therapy in glaucoma filtering surgery.