Correspondence of retinal thinning and vasculopathy in mice with oxygen-induced retinopathy.
The aberrantly vascularized peripheral retina in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) may be associated with visual field constriction, retinal dysfunction, and abnormalities in retinal thickness which is commonly assessed by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT). However, due to the limitation of SDOCT for peripheral retinal imaging, retinal thickness in avascular peripheral retina in ROP has not been evaluated. Oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR) in mice has features of vasculopathy similar to those in human ROP. These features occur in the posterior retina and thereby are accessible by standard imaging methods. The purpose of the current study was to determine the correspondence between abnormalities in retinal thickness and vasculopathy in neonatal OIR mice by simultaneous SDOCT imaging and fluorescein angiography (FA). Newborn mice (N = 19; C57BL/6J strain) were exposed to 77% oxygen from postnatal day 7 (P7) to P12. Age-matched control mice (N = 12) were raised in room air. FA and SDOCT were performed in mice between P17 and P19 to visualize retinal vasculature and measure retinal thickness, respectively. Retinal thickness measurements in vascular regions of interest (ROIs) of control mice, and in hypovascular and avascular ROIs of OIR mice were compared. In control mice, FA showed uniformly dense retinal capillary networks between major retinal vessels and retinal thickness of vascular ROIs was 260 ± 7 μm (N = 12). In OIR mice, FA displayed hypovascular regions with less dense and fewer capillaries and avascular regions devoid of visible capillaries. Retinal thickness measurements of hypovascular and avascular ROIs were 243 ± 21 μm and 209 ± 11 μm (N = 19), respectively. Retinal thickness in hypovascular and avascular ROIs of OIR mice was significantly lower than in vascular ROIs of control mice (p ≤ 0.01). Likewise, retinal thickness in avascular ROIs was significantly lower than in hypovascular ROIs (p < 0.001). Retinal thinning in hypovascular and avascular regions may be due to arrested retinal development and/or ischemia induced apoptosis.
Departments of Pediatrics and Ophthalmology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
Olachi J
OJ
Mezu-Ndubuisi
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Justin
J
Wanek
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Felix Y
FY
Chau
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Pang-Yu
PY
Teng
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Norman P
NP
Blair
Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 S. Wood Street Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Narsa M
NM
Reddy
Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 S. Wood Street Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
J Usha
JU
Raj
Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 S. Wood Street Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Sekhar P
SP
Reddy
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1855 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Electronic address: mahnshah@uic.edu.
Mahnaz
M
Shahidi
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010100:Oxygen / Q000633:toxicity*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
D010100:Oxygen
mice; oxygen induced retinopathy; retinal thickness; retinopathy of prematurity; vasculopathy