title: [Degenerative, regenerative and adaptive reactions to local damage of the retina].
abstract: Retinal ganglion cells can respond to local lesions due to mechanical trauma or photocoagulation with degeneration, adaptation or regeneration. Animal experiments show that under natural conditions the kind of reaction is dependent on the age at onset and on the degree of destruction caused by the lesion. In early postnatal life directly severed cells undergo fast degeneration while indirectly affected cells show adaptive changes (dendritic reorganization in the neighborhood of retrogradely degenerated retinal areas). This kind of reaction is not observed in adulthood. In contrast, in the adult retina there is a greater resistance to lesion effects and surviving cells show signs of axonal regeneration. Such attempts at regeneration, however, do not lead to successful reentry of axons into the optic nerve. In addition, at the very borders of photocoagulator lesions we observe both in early postnatal and adult animals signs of dendritic plasticity (redistribution of dendrites away from the lesion and towards the normal retina). The dendritic changes are aimed at retaining function and at reducing lesion size. They are characterized by a redistribution of dendritic volume towards the intact retina. While spontaneous intraretinal axonal regeneration does not appear to be beneficial for the system, the dendritic phenomena can be interpreted as attempts to limit the actual damage.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eysel
mesh_terms: D000221:Adaptation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*
vernacular_title: Degenerative, regenerative und adaptive Reaktionen auf lokale Schädigungen der Netzhaut.