HEBA S. GHAZALY**, EMAN M. ALY*^#, MONA S. TALAAT**, E.M. ELSAYED**

* Biophysics and Laser Science Unit, Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Giza, Egypt
** Biophysics Branch, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbasia, Cairo, Egypt

Tamoxifen is an antiestrogen therapy frequently used in the treatment of breast cancer and is currently being assessed as a prophylactic for those at high risk of developing tumors. This study was undertaken to estimate the incidence of retinal changes associated with tamoxifen treatment. Rabbits were divided into four groups, the first group served as control and the other three groups were administrated a daily dose of 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg of tamoxifen. Rabbits were decapitated after 2, 4 and 6 months, respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and curve-fitting analysis were carried out. Analysis of variance was used with significance level set at p < 0.05. The region NH-OH indicates significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) in wavenumber and band width. The conformational changes of the secondary structure of the protein in terms of alpha-helixes, beta-sheets and beta-turns were observed in all tamoxifen groups. Also the fingerprint regions indicate changes in the surrounding environment for the administration of tamoxifen. These data indicate a molecular mechanism by which tamoxifen cause retinal secondary structure changes formation suggesting that people using tamoxifen should receive an eye exam at least as often as recommended for middle-aged people.

Corresponding author’s e-mail: e.aly@hotmail.com

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