Progressive optic axon dystrophy and vacuslar changes in rd mice.
OBJECTIVE
To examine how the vascular plexuses in the rd mouse retina are affected by the loss of photoreceptors and how this compares with the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. To examine whether the profound effects of vascular pathology on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons seen in RCS rats are also found in rd mice.


METHODS
Vascular patterns were studied in flatmounted and sectioned retinas using either nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate(NADPH)-diaphorase histochemistry or vessel filling with horseradish peroxidase. Optic axons were visualized using RT97 (an antibody against the 200-kDa neurofilament subunit), and RGCs were labeled by retrograde transport of fluorescence label, the Fluorogold, applied to the superior colliculus.


RESULTS
The present study showed that in the rd mouse, similar to the RCS rat, vascular complexes developed in association with retinal pigment epithelial cells at the outer border of the retina. The number and distribution of complexes were very different from the rat, but as in the rat, progressive axonal dystrophy was seen in the optic fiber layer. RGC loss, rather than being local was more broadly distributed, but some, at least, appeared to be secondary to axonal dystrophy caused by vessels supplying vascular formation.


CONCLUSIONS
Photoreceptor loss in the rd mouse leads to RGC axonal dystrophy and loss. The lesser degree and different distribution of RGC loss caused by abnormal vasculature associated with vascular formations in the outer retina in the rd mouse may be due to the early atrophy of the deep vascular plexus in this animal.
Wang
S
S
Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, United Kingdom.
Villegas-Pérez
M P
MP
Vidal-Sanz
M
M
Lund
R D
RD
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology*; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000473:pathology; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000473:pathology*
D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase