Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the retina of the diabetic sand rat Psammomys obesus.
The pattern of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactivity, which labels dopamine neurons in the retina, is described in a diurnal sand rat Psammomys obesus. As in other rodent species, dopamine innervation is composed of large neurons located in the amacrine cell layer and sending processes mainly to sublamina 1 of the inner plexiform layer, where they form ring-like structures around unlabeled cell bodies. Thin varicose axon-like processes running to sublamina 3 are also present in significant number like in other diurnal animals. A few interplexiform cells are observed. Psammomys obesus rapidly develops hyperglycemia when held in captivity and fed normal synthetic laboratory rat diet, providing a model for the study of diabetes related impairment of dopamine metabolism in the retina. The pathomorphological analysis of TH-immunoreactivity was achieved in a population of diabetic Psammomys and compared with the normal. It indicates that moderate hyperglycemia induces a decrease of TH-immunoreactivity in dopamine dendrites only, while severe hyperglycemia can provoke dopamine neuron degeneration.
Laboratoire de Neurocytologie Oculaire, INSERM U-86, Paris, France.
Y
Y
Larabi
Y
Y
Dahmani
T
T
Gernigon
J
J
Nguyen-Legros
D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D004032:Diet; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005849:Gerbillinae / Q000378:metabolism*; D012160:Retina / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine