Mild carotid stenosis creates gradual, progressive, lifelong brain, and eye damage: An experimental laboratory rat model.

In humans, carotid stenosis of 70% and above might be the cause of clinical symptoms such as transient ischemic attack and stroke. No clinical or animal studies have evaluated mild carotid occlusion, and few examined unilateral occlusion. Here, Westar rats underwent bilateral or unilateral carotid occlusion of 28-45%. Long-term effects were evaluated 9-11 months later. We conducted cognitive evaluation using spatial learning in a water maze and exploration behavior in an open field. Morphology of the brain was examined by MRI using diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and immunohistochemistry staining of the brain and eyes. Cognitive deficit was found in spatial memory and exploration behavior in both occluded groups. Brain and eyes histology presented severe damage in the bilateral group, compared to the unilateral one. DTI revealed an increase in mean diffusivity (MD) in the ventral thalamus and a decrease in fractional anisotropy in optic nerve and optic tract in bilateral rats, while unilateral rats showed only an increase in MD in the ventral pons. In those areas, a significant change in astrocytes, microglia, and number of apoptotic cells were found. Bilateral occlusion produced severe damage to both retinas, while unilateral occlusion produced damage mainly in the occluded side. We found that mild carotid stenosis, even in a unilateral occlusion, creates behavioral abnormalities presented by brain and eye histopathology. The results support our hypothesis that gradual formation of mild carotid stenosis along the life course leads to progressive damage that may create different degenerative diseases at a later age.

Repetitive magnetic stimulation protects corneal epithelium in a rabbit model of short-term exposure keratopathy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of repetitive magnetic stimulation (RMS) on corneal epithelial permeability in a rabbit model of exposure keratopathy. METHODS: 61 female New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were treated on one eye with repetitive magnetic stimulation (RMS) at a frequency of 20 Hz for 15 min. The other eye was untreated. Rabbit eyes were kept open for 2 h to induce acute corneal desiccation. The extent of fluorescein corneal staining was evaluated using EpiView software and the concentration of fluorescein in the anterior chamber was determined by a fluorometer. Safety was evaluated by electroretinogram, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and histopathology. Expression pattern of corneal cell markers was determined by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: A significant decrease in fluorescein concentration in the anterior chamber (54 ±â€¯8.4 ng/ml vs. 146.5 ±â€¯18.6 ng/ml, p = 0.000001) and in corneal surface fluorescein staining score (1.7 ±â€¯0.2 vs. 4.6 ±â€¯0.6, p = 0.00001) was obtained in RMS-treated eyes compared with control eyes, respectively. RMS treatment reduced by nearly 4 fold the percentage of corneal area with epithelial erosions by anterior segment SD-OCT. The therapeutic effect was maintained for at least 3 months. Increased expression of epithelial tight junction protein Zo-1 was observed in treated eyes. SD-OCT and histopathology analysis revealed no pathological changes in the treated or non-treated eyes. CONCLUSIONS: RMS treatment decreases epithelial corneal erosions in a rabbit model of exposure keratopathy, with no indication of pathological changes. RMS may present a novel treatment for protection of corneal epithelium from desiccation.

Multimodal Assessment of Corneal Erosions Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Automated Grading of Fluorescein Staining in a Rabbit Dry Eye Model.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential use of anterior segment spectral domain optical coherence tomography (AS-SD-OCT) combined with an automated grading of fluorescein staining for assessment of corneal erosions in a rabbit short-term dry eye model. METHODS: Twenty-one New Zealand white rabbits were anesthetized and eyes were kept open for 140 minutes to induce acute corneal desiccation. Rectangular scans of the cornea were performed using Spectralis AS-SD-OCT. Total corneal thickness, corneal epithelial thickness, and the percentage of epithelial erosion area (PEEA) were evaluated. Corneas were stained with fluorescein and graded automatically using EpiView and semi-automatically using ImageJ. Spearman's rank-order correlations were calculated to compare the AS-SD-OCT PEEA and the two corneal staining scores. RESULTS: Eye desiccation resulted in corneal epithelium erosions that covered 0.67% to 14.2% of the central cornea (mean ± SD: 3.95% ± 3.2%) by AS-SD-OCT. The percentage of corneal area positively stained with fluorescein ranged from 0.24% to 38.01% (mean ± SD: 12.24% ± 9.7%) by using ImageJ, correlating with the AS-SD-OCT PEEA (Spearman's ρ, 0.574; P = 0.007). The EpiView score ranged from 0.5 to 10.17 and was better correlated with the AS-SD-OCT PEEA score (Spearman's ρ, 0.795; P = 0.000017). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that multimodal analysis of AS-SD-OCT and grading of fluorescein staining using EpiView software may enable quantitative assessment of corneal epithelial erosions in a rabbit short-term dry eye model. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This multimodal imaging analysis may be applied for evaluation of superficial punctate keratitis associated with dry eye.

Evaluation of visual function in Royal College of Surgeon rats using a depth perception visual cliff test.

Preserving of vision is the main goal in vision research. The presented research evaluates the preservation of visual function in Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rats using a depth perception test. Rats were placed on a stage with one side containing an illusory steep drop ("cliff") and another side with a minimal drop ("table"). Latency of stage dismounting and the percentage of rats that set their first foot on the "cliff" side were determined. Nondystrophic Long-Evans (LE) rats were tested as control. Electroretinogram and histology analysis were used to determine retinal function and structure. Four-week-old RCS rats presented a significantly shorter mean latency to dismount the stage compared with 6-week-old rats (mean ± standard error, 13.7 ± 1.68 vs. 20.85 ± 6.5 s, P = 0.018). Longer latencies were recorded as rats aged, reaching 45.72 s in 15-week-old rats (P < 0.00001 compared with 4-week-old rats). All rats at the age of 4 weeks placed their first foot on the table side. By contrast, at the age of 8 weeks, 28.6% rats dismounted on the cliff side and at the age of 10 and 15 weeks, rats randomly dismounted the stage to either table or cliff side. LE rats dismounted the stage faster than 4-week-old RCS rats, but the difference was not statistically significant (7 ± 1.58 s, P = 0.057) and all LE rats dismounted on the table side. The latency to dismount the stage in RCS rats correlated with maximal electroretinogram b-wave under dark and light adaptation (Spearman's rho test = -0.603 and -0.534, respectively, all P < 0.0001), outer nuclear layer thickness (Spearman's rho test = -0.764, P = 0.002), and number of S- and M-cones (Spearman's rho test = -0.763 [P = 0.002], and -0.733 [P = 0.004], respectively). The cliff avoidance test is an objective, quick, and readily available method for the determination of RCS rats' visual function.

In vivo MRI assessment of bioactive magnetic iron oxide/human serum albumin nanoparticle delivery into the posterior segment of the eye in a rat model of retinal degeneration.

BACKGROUND: Retinal degeneration diseases affect millions of patients worldwide and lead to incurable vision loss. These diseases are caused by pathologies in the retina and underlying choroid, located in the back of the eye. One of the major challenges in the development of treatments for these blinding diseases is the safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics into the back of the eye. Previous studies demonstrated that narrow size distribution core-shell near infra-red fluorescent iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles (NPs) coated with human serum albumin (HSA, IO/HSA NPs) increase the half-life of conjugated therapeutic factors, suggesting they may be used for sustained release of therapeutics. In the present study, the in vivo tracking by MRI and the long term safety of IO/HSA NPs delivery into the suprachoroid of a rat model of retinal degeneration were assessed. RESULTS: Twenty-five Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) pigmented rats received suprachoroidal injection of 20-nm IO/HSA NPs into the right eye. The left eye was not injected and used as control. Animals were examined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroretinogram (ERG) and histology up to 30 weeks following injection. IO/HSA NPs were detected in the back part of the rats' eyes up to 30 weeks following injection by MRI, and up to 6 weeks by histology. No significant differences in retinal structure and function were observed between injected and non-injected eyes. There was no significant difference in the weight of IO/HSA NP-injected animals compared to non-injected rats. CONCLUSIONS: MRI could track the nanoparticles in the posterior segment of the injected eyes demonstrating their long-term persistence, and highlighting the possible use of MRI for translational studies in animals and in future clinical studies. Suprachoroidal injection of IO/HSA NPs showed no sign of adverse effects on retinal structure and function in a rat model of retinal degeneration, suggesting that suprachoroidal delivery of IO/HSA NPs is safe and that these NPs may be used in future translational and clinical studies for extended release drug delivery at the back of the eye.

Synthetic 9-cis-beta-carotene inhibits photoreceptor degeneration in cultures of eye cups from rpe65rd12 mouse model of retinoid cycle defect.

The retinoid cycle enzymes regenerate the visual chromophore 11-cis retinal to enable vision. Mutations in the genes encoding the proteins of the retinoid cycle are the leading cause for recessively inherited retinal dystrophies such as retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, congenital cone-rod dystrophy and fundus albipunctatus. Currently there is no treatment for these blinding diseases. In previous studies we demonstrated that oral treatment with the 9-cis-ß-carotene rich Dunaliella Bardawil algae powder significantly improved visual and retinal functions in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and fundus albipunctatus. Here we developed a convenient and economical synthetic route for biologically active 9-cis-ß-carotene from inexpensive building materials and demonstrated that the molecule is stable for at least one month. Synthetic 9-cis-ß-carotene rescued cone photoreceptors from degeneration in eye cup cultures of mice with a retinoid cycle genetic defect. This study suggests that synthetic 9-cis-ß-carotene may serve as an effective treatment for retinal dystrophies involving the retinoid cycle.

Long-Term Safety of Transplanting Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells into the Extravascular Spaces of the Choroid of Rabbits.

Incurable neuroretinal degeneration diseases cause severe vision loss and blindness in millions of patients worldwide. In previous studies, we demonstrated that transplanting human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) in the extravascular spaces of the choroid (EVSC) of the Royal College of Surgeon rats ameliorated retinal degeneration for up to 5 months. Assessing the safety of hBMSC treatment and graft survival in a large animal is a crucial step before initiating clinical trials. Here, we transplanted hBMSCs into the EVSC compartment of New Zealand White rabbits. No immunosuppressants were used. Transplanted cells were spread across the EVSC covering over 80 percent of the subretinal surface. No cells were detected in the sclera. Cells were retained in the EVSC compartment 10 weeks following transplantation. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and histopathology analysis demonstrated no choroidal hemorrhages, retinal detachment, inflammation, or any untoward pathological reactions in any of transplanted eyes or in the control noninjected contralateral eyes. No reduction in retinal function was recorded by electroretinogram up to 10 weeks following transplantation. This study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of transplanting hBMSCs in the EVSC compartment in a large eye model of rabbits.

A minimally invasive adjustable-depth blunt injector for delivery of pharmaceuticals into the posterior pole.

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility and safety of a novel minimally invasive adjustable-depth blunt injector for pharmaceuticals delivery into the posterior segment. METHODS: Indocyanine green (ICG), sodium fluorescein and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were injected using the new injector into the extravascular spaces of the choroid (EVSC) compartment of rabbits and cadaver pig eyes. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fundus imaging and histology analysis were performed for assessment of injection safety and efficacy. RESULTS: Indocyanine green, fluorescein and IONPs were detected across the EVSC in rabbit eyes, covering over 80 per cent of the posterior eye surface. Injected IONPs were retained in the EVSC for at least 2 weeks following injection. No retinal detachment, choroidal haemorrhage or inflammation was detected in any of the injected eyes. In cadaver pig eyes, ICG was detected across the EVSC. CONCLUSIONS: This novel minimally invasive delivery system may be used to safely deliver large volumes of pharmaceuticals into a new treatment reservoir compartment - the EVSC which can serve as a depot, in close proximity to the retina, covering most of the surface of the back of the eye without insertion of surgical instruments under the central retina. This system is predicted to enhance the therapeutic effect of treatments for posterior eye disorders.

Epiretinal transplantation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells rescues retinal and vision function in a rat model of retinal degeneration.

Vision incapacitation and blindness associated with incurable retinal degeneration affect millions of people worldwide. In this study, 0.25×10(6) human bone marrow stem cells (hBM-MSCs) were transplanted epiretinally in the right eye of Royal College Surgeons (RCS) rats at the age of 28 days. Epiretinally transplanted cells were identified as a thin layer of cells along vitreous cavity, in close proximity to the retina or attached to the lens capsule, up to 6 weeks following transplantation. Epiretinal transplantation delayed photoreceptor degeneration and rescued retinal function up to 20 weeks following cell transplantation. Visual functions remained close to normal levels in epiretinal transplantation rats. No inflammation or any other adverse effects were observed in transplanted eyes. Our findings suggest that transplantation of hBM-MSCs as a thin epiretinal layer is effective for treatment of retinal degeneration in RCS rats, and that transplanting the cells in close proximity to the retina enhances hBM-MSC therapeutic effect compared with intravitreal injection.

[A novel system for minimally invasive transplantation of bone marrow derived stem cells as a thin layer in the subretina and extravascular spaces of the choroid--for treatment of retinal degeneration].

BACKGROUND: Incurable retinal degenerations affect millions worldwide. Stem cell transplantation rescued visual functions in animal models of retinal degeneration. In those studies, cells were transplanted in subretinal "blebs". A limited number of cells could be injected and photoreceptor rescue was restricted to areas in proximity to the injection sites. PURPOSE: To develop a minimally-invasive surgical system for stem cell transplantation in the subretina and extravascular spaces of the choroid. METHODS: A novel syringe with flexible needle and adjustable pin was developed. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells [hBM-MSCs) were transplanted in the eyes of RCS rats and NZW rabbits through a longitudinal triangular scleral incision. No immunosuppressants were used. Retinal function was determined by electroretinogram analysis and retinal structure was determined by histological analysis and optical coherence tomography (OCT). RESULTS: Transplanted cells were identified as a thin layer across the subretina and extravascular spaces of the choroid. In RCS rats, cell transplantation delayed photoreceptor degeneration across the entire retina and significantly enhanced retinal functions. No changes in retinal functions were recorded in rabbits following transplantation. No retinal detachment or choroidal hemorrhages were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The novel syringe facilitates cell transplantation across the subretina and extravascular spaces of the choroid using a minimally-invasive procedure. Human BM-MSC transplantation using this system ameliorates retinal degeneration in the animal model. DISCUSSION: This new transplantation system may increase the therapeutic effect of other cell-based therapies and therapeutic agents. This study is expected to lead directly to phase I clinical trials for autologous hBM-MSCs transplantation in patients with retinal degeneration.

Transplantation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells as a thin subretinal layer ameliorates retinal degeneration in a rat model of retinal dystrophy.

Vision incapacitation and blindness associated with retinal degeneration affect millions of people worldwide. Cell based therapy and specifically transplantation of human adult bone marrow-derived stem cells (hBM-MSCs) present possible treatment strategy. Subretinal transplantation of human or rat BM-MSCs was shown previously to improve retinal function in Royal College Surgeons (RCS) rats. In those studies cells were transplanted via a transscleral-transchoroidal approach, creating a localized subretinal bleb. Limited number of cells could be injected and photoreceptor rescue was restricted to areas in proximity to the injection site. Here we describe a new surgical method for subretinal transplantation that facilitates uniform distribution of transplanted cells as a thin layer along most of the subretinal space. We assessed the therapeutic effect of hBM-MSCs on RCS rats when transplanted either subretinally or intravitreally. We also examined whether a second transplantation can prolong the therapeutic effect. A cell suspension of 2.5 × 10(6) cells in 5 µl was injected subretinally or intravitreally in RCS rats at 28 days postnatal. In the subretinal group, hBM-MSCs were transplanted posterior to the limbus in the superotemporal part of the eye through a longitudinal triangular scleral tunnel reaching the choroid. In the intravitreal group, the cells were injected into the superotemporal part of the vitreous cavity. In cross sections of subretinally transplanted eyes, removed 2 h following transplantation, hBM-MSCs were distributed as a near-homogenous thin layer along most of the subretinal space. In some animals the cells were also detected in the choroid. In the intravitreal injection group, hBM-MSCs were clustered in the vitreous cavity. Transplanted cells could be detected up to 2 weeks after transplantation but not at later time points. Retinal function and structure were assessed by electroretinogram (ERG) and histology analysis, respectively. Six weeks post transplantation, the mean maximal scotopic ERG b-wave amplitude response recorded in RCS control eyes was 1.2 µV. By contrast, in transplanted eyes mean responses of 56.4 µV and 66.2 µV were recorded in the intravitreally and subretinally transplanted eyes, respectively. In the subretinal group, retinal function was significantly higher in transplanted compared with control eyes up to 20 weeks following transplantation. By contrast, in the intravitreal group, rescue of retinal function persisted only up to 12 weeks following transplantation. Histological analysis revealed that 8 weeks following subretinal transplantation, the retinas of control eyes were dystrophic, with outer nuclear layer (ONL) containing a single cell layer. An extensive photoreceptor rescue was demonstrated in transplanted eyes at this time point, with 3-4 cell layers in the ONL along the entire retina. A second subretinal transplantation at 70 days postnatal did not enhance or prolong the therapeutic effect of hBM-MSCs. No immunosuppressants were used and long-term safety analysis demonstrated no gross or microscopic adverse effects. Taken together our findings suggest that transplantation of hBM-MSCs as a thin subretinal layer enhances the therapeutic effect and the safety of cell transplantation.