Damage to visual pathways can lead to irreversible blindness. Posterior visual pathways, located within a watershed area, are predisposed to hypoperfusion/reperfusion injury. In a novel rat model of bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO), oxidative injury to the superior colliculus (SC), a major visual center within the watershed area was evaluated, in addition to its effects on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Nitrotyrosine, a footprint of peroxynitrite-mediated oxidative injury in the SC, and microtubule-associated protein 2, a dendrite marker in the retina, were assessed using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Nitrotyrosine-immunoreactivity in the SC was increased 2 weeks after BCCAO compared to controls. Microtubule-associated protein 2-immunoreactivity in the central inner plexiform layer was reduced 3 weeks after BCCAO compared to controls. Global incomplete cerebral hypoperfusion/reperfusion induced oxidative injury in the SC and retrograde RGC dendritic changes. This suggests that cerebrovascular injury affecting the posterior visual pathways may contribute to vision loss in patients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/17441 |
| Date | 14 July 2009 |
| Creators | Ramsaroop, Lynzey |
| Contributors | Yucel, Yeni, Gupta, Neeru |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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