Genetic difference in susceptibility to the blood-retina barrier breakdown in diabetes and oxygen-induced retinopathy.
The breakdown of the blood-retina barrier (BRB) is a common feature of diabetic retinopathy. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether there are genetic differences in susceptibility to the breakdown of the BRB in diabetic retinopathy using two rat models. In streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes, Brown Norway (BN) rats developed sustained vascular hyperpermeability in the retina during the entire experimental period (16 weeks of diabetes), while diabetic Sprague Dawley (SD) rats only showed retinal hyperpermeability from 3 to 10 days after the onset of diabetes. The strain difference in permeability was not correlated with the blood glucose levels in these two strains. In oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR), BN rats developed retinal vascular hyperpermeability from postnatal day 12 (P12) to P22 with a peak at P16, which was 8.7-fold higher than that in the age-matched normal controls. In OIR-SD rats, however, hyperpermeability was observed from P14 to P18, with a peak only 2.2-fold higher than that in the controls. The strain difference in vascular hyperpermeability was correlated with the different overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the retina of these two models. This finding suggests that genetic backgrounds contribute to the susceptibility to diabetic retinopathy.
Zhang
Sarah X
SX
Department of Medicine, The Oklahoma University Health Science Center, 941 Stanton L. Young Blvd., BSEB 328B, Oklahoma City, OK 73104-5043, USA.
Ma
Jian-Xing
JX
Sima
Jing
J
Chen
Ying
Y
Hu
Mark S
MS
Ottlecz
Anna
A
Lambrou
George N
GN
D000818:Animals; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000473:pathology*; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000494:pharmacology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000633:toxicity; D010539:Permeability; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000494:pharmacology
D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D010100:Oxygen