Intravitreal MPTP drives retinal ganglion cell loss with oral nicotinamide treatment providing robust neuroprotection.

Neurodegenerative diseases have common underlying pathological mechanisms including progressive neuronal dysfunction, axonal and dendritic retraction, and mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in neuronal death. The retina is often affected in common neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Studies have demonstrated that the retina in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoes changes that parallel the dysfunction in the brain. These changes classically include decreased levels of dopamine, accumulation of alpha-synuclein in the brain and retina, and death of dopaminergic nigral neurons and retinal amacrine cells leading to gross neuronal loss. Exploring this disease's retinal phenotype and vision-related symptoms is an important window for elucidating its pathophysiology and progression, and identifying novel ways to diagnose and treat Parkinson's disease. 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is commonly used to model Parkinson's disease in animal models. MPTP is a neurotoxin converted to its toxic form by astrocytes, transported to neurons through the dopamine transporter, where it causes mitochondrial Complex I inhibition and neuron degeneration. Systemic administration of MPTP induces retinal changes in different animal models. In this study, we assessed the effects of MPTP on the retina directly via intravitreal injection in mice (5 mg/mL and 50 mg/mL to 7, 14 and 21 days post-injection). MPTP treatment induced the reduction of retinal ganglion cells-a sensitive neuron in the retina-at all time points investigated. This occurred without a concomitant loss of dopaminergic amacrine cells or neuroinflammation at any of the time points or concentrations tested. The observed neurodegeneration which initially affected retinal ganglion cells indicated that this method of MPTP administration could yield a fast and straightforward model of retinal ganglion cell neurodegeneration. To assess whether this model could be amenable to neuroprotection, mice were treated orally with nicotinamide (a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide precursor) which has been demonstrated to be neuroprotective in several retinal ganglion cell injury models. Nicotinamide was strongly protective following intravitreal MPTP administration, further supporting intravitreal MPTP use as a model of retinal ganglion cell injury. As such, this model could be utilized for testing neuroprotective treatments in the context of Parkinson's disease and retinal ganglion cell injury.

Bhlhe40 Promotes CD4+ T Helper 1 Cell and Suppresses T Follicular Helper Cell Differentiation during Viral Infection.

In response to acute infection, naive CD4+ T cells primarily differentiate into T helper 1 (Th1) or T follicular helper (Tfh) cells that play critical roles in orchestrating cellular or humoral arms of immunity, respectively. However, despite the well established role of T-bet and BCL-6 in driving Th1 and Tfh cell lineage commitment, respectively, whether additional transcriptional circuits also underlie the fate bifurcation of Th1 and Tfh cell subsets is not fully understood. In this article, we study how the transcriptional regulator Bhlhe40 dictates the Th1/Tfh differentiation axis in mice. CD4+ T cell-specific deletion of Bhlhe40 abrogates Th1 but augments Tfh differentiation. We also assessed an increase in germinal center B cells and Ab production, suggesting that deletion of Bhlhe40 in CD4+ T cells not only alters Tfh differentiation but also their capacity to provide help to B cells. To identify molecular mechanisms by which Bhlhe40 regulates Th1 versus Tfh lineage choice, we first performed epigenetic profiling in the virus specific Th1 and Tfh cells following LCMV infection, which revealed distinct promoter and enhancer activities between the two helper cell lineages. Furthermore, we identified that Bhlhe40 directly binds to cis-regulatory elements of Th1-related genes such as Tbx21 and Cxcr6 to activate their expression while simultaneously binding to regions of Tfh-related genes such as Bcl6 and Cxcr5 to repress their expression. Collectively, our data suggest that Bhlhe40 functions as a transcription activator to promote Th1 cell differentiation and a transcription repressor to suppress Tfh cell differentiation.

Effects of sensory overstimulation in postpartum rats.

Research in rodents has shown that exposure to excessive early life audiovisual stimulation leads to altered anxiety-like behaviors and cognitive deficits. Since this period of stimulation typically begins prior to weaning, newborn rodents receive sensory overstimulation (SOS) as a litter within their home cage while the dam is present. However, the effects of SOS during the postpartum period remain unexplored. To this end, we adapted an SOS paradigm for use in rats and exposed rat dams and their litters from postpartum days (PD) 10-23. Maternal observations were conducted to determine whether SOS produced changes in positive and/or negative maternal behaviors. Next, we assessed changes in anxiety-like behavior and cognition by testing dams in the elevated zero maze, open field, and novel object recognition tests. To assess potential effects on HPA-axis function, levels of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) were measured approximately 1-week after the cessation of SOS exposure. Our results indicate increased nursing and licking in SOS dams compared to controls, although SOS dams also exhibited significant increases in pup dragging. Moreover, SOS dams exhibited reduced self-care behaviors and nest-building compared to control dams. No differences were found for anxiety-like behaviors, object recognition memory, or CORT levels. This study is the first to assess the impact of postpartum SOS exposure in rat dams. Our findings suggest an SOS-induced enhancement in positive caregiving, but limited impact in all other measures.

A Case Report of Renal Infarcts Secondary to Segmental Arterial Mediolysis.

Flank pain is an exceptionally common presenting symptom in the emergency and primary care setting; however, most clinicians may not include a differential diagnosis of renal infarct (RI) due to the reported low incidence of this condition. Delayed diagnosis or treatment intervention for RI can have dire consequences for the patient including hypertension and longstanding renal impairment. In this report, we review a case of a previously healthy 39-year-old male presenting with flank pain, which after extensive workup, was revealed to be caused by renal infarction from a renal artery dissection secondary to segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM).

Rare Lung Malignancy Mimic: A Case of Daptomycin-Induced Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia.

Daptomycin is an antibiotic used for resistant Gram-positive organisms and has the rare side effect of inducing acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP). This condition can be fatal due to respiratory failure if not treated, as eosinophils migrate to the lungs and inflammatory cascades cause epithelial injury. Daptomycin-induced AEP can be misdiagnosed as bacterial pneumonia or malignancy, which may lead to unnecessary testing or treatments. Diagnostic criteria include dyspnea, fever, recent daptomycin exposure, infiltrates on imaging, eosinophils on bronchoalveolar lavage or peripheral eosinophilia, and clinical improvement with medication discontinuation. We present a unique case of daptomycin-induced eosinophilic pneumonia in a 72-year-old male with the chief complaint of dyspnea and initial concerns for lung cancer after a spiculated nodule was seen on imaging. Prior to undergoing a lung biopsy, repeat imaging showed a decrease in the suspicious nodule, reducing the likelihood of malignancy and prompting a re-evaluation of the history of the present illness and medication list. Daptomycin was stopped, and the patient's symptoms and imaging improved. This case illustrates the importance of early recognition and appropriate treatment of AEP, which allows for complete clinical recovery.

Sports and Weight Control in Children.

Pediatric obesity is a global concern with distressing comorbid conditions, including mood disturbance, cardiovascular changes, endocrine imbalance, liver disease, sleep apnea, and orthopedic conditions. The primary treatment of this condition includes physical activity. Participating in organized sports has been shown to reduce weight and the complications of pediatric obesity more effectively than individual exercise.

The effects of prenatal and postnatal high-dose vitamin B-12 supplementation on human milk vitamin B-12: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin B-12 status in human milk (HM) has critical implications for infant growth and development. Few studies have separately evaluated the effects of prenatal and postnatal maternal high-dose vitamin B-12 supplementation on HM vitamin B-12 concentration. OBJECTIVES: This randomized controlled trial aimed to assess the effects of prenatal and postnatal vitamin B-12 supplementation on HM vitamin B-12 at 6 wk and 7 mo postpartum. METHODS: Pregnant women were enrolled in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, between 2001 and 2004. From recruitment (12-27 weeks of gestation) through 6 wk postpartum, participants were randomly assigned to daily oral multiple micronutrient supplementation or placebo. From 6 wk to 18 mo postpartum, a subset of participants was randomly assigned to a postnatal supplement or placebo. The supplement included 50 µg/d of vitamin B-12 and various other vitamins. HM vitamin B-12 concentrations were analyzed at 6 wk and 7 mo postpartum for 412 participants. RESULTS: The prevalence of HM vitamin B-12 of <310 pmol/L was 73.3% and 68.4% at 6 wk and 7 mo postpartum, respectively. Prenatal supplementation increased HM vitamin B-12 concentration (percent difference: 34.4; 95% CI: 17.0, 54.5; P < 0.001) at 6 wk; this effect was not present at 7 mo. Postnatal supplementation increased HM vitamin B-12 concentration (percent difference: 15.9; 95% CI: 1.91, 31.9; P = 0.025) at 7 mo. Effect modification between prenatal and postnatal supplementation on HM vitamin B-12 status at 7 mo was found, with the effects of prenatal and postnatal supplements more pronounced among those receiving control during the other period; the prenatal supplement had a greater effect with postnatal control, and the postnatal supplement had a greater effect with prenatal control. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal maternal vitamin B-12 supplementation has benefits on short-term HM status, and postnatal maternal vitamin B-12 supplementation has benefits on long-term HM status. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00197548. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00197548.

Electron microscopic analysis of the influence of iPSC-derived motor neurons on bioengineered human skeletal muscle tissues.

3D bioengineered skeletal muscle macrotissues are increasingly important for studies of cell biology and development of therapeutics. Tissues derived from immortalized cells obtained from patient samples, or from pluripotent stem cells, can be co-cultured with motor-neurons to create models of human neuromuscular junctions in culture. In this study, we present foundational work on 3D cultured muscle ultrastructure, with and without motor neurons, which is enabled by the development of a new co-culture platform. Our results show that tissues from Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients are poorly organized compared to tissues grown from healthy donor and that the presence of motor neurons invariably improves sarcomere organization. Electron micrographs show that in the presence of motor neurons, filament directionality, banding patterns, z-disc continuity, and the appearance of presumptive SSR and T-tubule profiles all improve in healthy, DMD-, and iPSC-derived muscle tissue. Further work to identify the underlying defects of DMD tissue disorganization and the mechanisms by which motor neurons support muscle are likely to yield potential new therapeutic approaches for treating patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Factors associated with longer survival among older medicare patients after diagnosis of supratentorial primary brain malignancies: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Despite recent advances, the prognosis for primary malignant brain tumors (PMBTs) remains poor. Some commonly prescribed medications may exhibit anti-tumor properties in various cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases may activate pathways that counteract gliomagenesis. Our study is focused on determining if there is a correlation between the use of metformin, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), or the presence of Parkinson's disease (PD), and the survival rates following a diagnosis of a PMBT. METHODS: This analysis of the 100% Texas Medicare Database identified patients aged 66+ years diagnosed with a supratentorial PMBT from 2014-2017. Cox proportional hazards regression was employed to analyze survival following diagnosis and associations of survival with surgical intervention, radiation, PD diagnosis, and prescription of metformin, beta-blockers, ACEIs, or ARBs. RESULTS: There were 1,943 patients who met study criteria, and the median age was 74 years. When medication utilization was stratified by none, pre-diagnosis only, post-diagnosis only, or both pre- and post-diagnosis (continuous), continuous utilization of metformin, beta-blockers, ACEIs, or ARBs was associated with prolonged survival compared to no utilization (hazard ratio [HR]:0.45, 95% CI:0.33-0.62; HR:0.71. 95% CI:0.59-0.86; HR:0.59, 95% CI:0.48-0.72; and HR:0.45, 95% CI:0.35-0.58 respectively). PD was also associated with longer survival (HR:0.59-0.63 across the four models). DISCUSSION: Our study suggests that metformin, beta-blockers, ACEIs, ARBs, and comorbid PD are associated with a survival benefit among geriatric Medicare patients with supratentorial PMBTs.

Levodopa Rescues Retinal Function in the Transgenic A53T Alpha-Synuclein Model of Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Loss of substantia nigra dopaminergic cells and alpha-synuclein (α-syn)-rich intraneuronal deposits within the central nervous system are key hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD). Levodopa (L-DOPA) is the current gold-standard treatment for PD. This study aimed to evaluate in vivo retinal changes in a transgenic PD model of α-syn overexpression and the effect of acute levodopa (L-DOPA) treatment. METHODS: Anaesthetised 6-month-old mice expressing human A53T alpha-synuclein (HOM) and wildtype (WT) control littermates were intraperitoneally given 20 mg/kg L-DOPA (50 mg levodopa, 2.5 mg benserazide) or vehicle saline (n = 11-18 per group). In vivo retinal function (dark-adapted full-field ERG) and structure (optical coherence tomography, OCT) were recorded before and after drug treatment for 30 min. Ex vivo immunohistochemistry (IHC) on flat-mounted retina was conducted to assess tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive cell counts (n = 7-8 per group). RESULTS: We found that photoreceptor (a-wave) and bipolar cell (b-wave) ERG responses (p < 0.01) in A53T HOM mice treated with L-DOPA grew in amplitude more (47 ± 9%) than WT mice (16 ± 9%) treated with L-DOPA, which was similar to the vehicle group (A53T HOM 25 ± 9%; WT 19 ± 7%). While outer retinal thinning (outer nuclear layer, ONL, and outer plexiform layer, OPL) was confirmed in A53T HOM mice (p < 0.01), L-DOPA did not have an ameliorative effect on retinal layer thickness. These findings were observed in the absence of changes to the number of TH-positive amacrine cells across experiment groups. Acute L-DOPA treatment transiently improves visual dysfunction caused by abnormal alpha-synuclein accumulation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings deepen our understanding of dopamine and alpha-synuclein interactions in the retina and provide a high-throughput preclinical framework, primed for translation, through which novel therapeutic compounds can be objectively screened and assessed for fast-tracking PD drug discovery.

Altered Outer Retinal Structure, Electrophysiology and Visual Perception in Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Visual biomarkers of Parkinson's disease (PD) are attractive as the retina is an outpouching of the brain. Although inner retinal neurodegeneration in PD is well-established this has overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases and thus outer retinal (photoreceptor) measures warrant further investigation. OBJECTIVE: To examine in a cross-sectional study whether clinically implementable measures targeting outer retinal function and structure can differentiate PD from healthy ageing and whether these are sensitive to intraday levodopa (L-DOPA) dosing. METHODS: Centre-surround perceptual contrast suppression, macular visual field sensitivity, colour discrimination, light-adapted electroretinography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were tested in PD participants (n = 16) and controls (n = 21). Electroretinography and OCT were conducted before and after midday L-DOPA in PD participants, or repeated after ∼2 hours in controls. RESULTS: PD participants had decreased center-surround contrast suppression (p < 0.01), reduced macular visual field sensitivity (p < 0.05), color vision impairment (p < 0.01) photoreceptor dysfunction (a-wave, p < 0.01) and photoreceptor neurodegeneration (outer nuclear layer thinning, p < 0.05), relative to controls. Effect size comparison between inner and outer retinal parameters showed that photoreceptor metrics were similarly robust in differentiating the PD group from age-matched controls as inner retinal changes. Electroretinography and OCT were unaffected by L-DOPA treatment or time. CONCLUSIONS: We show that outer retinal outcomes of photoreceptoral dysfunction (decreased cone function and impaired color vision) and degeneration (i.e., outer nuclear layer thinning) were equivalent to inner retinal metrics at differentiating PD from healthy age-matched adults. These findings suggest outer retinal metrics may serve as useful biomarkers for PD.

Persistent cervical cancer disparities among American Indian/Alaska Native women: a systematic scoping review exploring the state of the science in this population.

PURPOSE: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations experience significantly higher incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer. The objective of this systematic scoping review is to characterize the volume and nature of research being conducted specific to the AI/AN population regarding cervical cancer and related clinical themes. METHODS: This scoping review was conducted in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center. Search strategies identified eligible publications from 1990 through 4 February 2022. Two reviewers independently abstracted study data, including clinical area, number of participants and percent inclusion of AI/AN, intervention or risk factor, outcomes reported, Indian Health Service (IHS) Region, and funding source. We used published algorithms to assess study design. RESULTS: Database searches identified 300 unique citations. After full-text evaluation of 129 articles, 78 studies and 9 secondary publications were included (total of 87). Approximately 74% of studies were observational in design, with cross-sectional methodology accounting for 42.7% of all included studies. The most common clinical theme was cervical cancer screening. The most common intervention/exposure was risk factor, typically race (AI/AN compared with other groups) (69%). For studies with documented funding sources, 67% were funded by the US Government. CONCLUSION: Of the small number of publications identified, the majority are funded through government agencies, are descriptive and/or cross-sectional studies that are hypothesis generating in nature, and fail to represent the diversity of the AI/AN populations in the US. This systematic scoping review highlights the paucity of rigorous research being conducted in a population suffering from a greater burden of disease.

Understanding how ageing impacts ganglion cell susceptibility to injury in glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, with a marked increase in prevalence with advancing age. Due to the multifactorial nature of glaucoma pathogenesis, dissecting how ageing impacts upon glaucoma risk requires analysis and synthesis of evidence from a vast literature. While there is a wealth of human clinical studies examining glaucoma pathogenesis and why older patients have increased risk, many aspects of the disease such as adaptations of retinal ganglion cells to stress, autophagy and the role of glial cells in glaucoma, require the use of animal models to study the complex cellular processes and interactions. Additionally, the accelerated nature of ageing in rodents facilitates the longitudinal study of changes that would not be feasible in human clinical studies. This review article examines evidence derived predominantly from rodent models on how the ageing process impacts upon various aspects of glaucoma pathology from the retinal ganglion cells themselves, to supporting cells and tissues such as glial cells, connective tissue and vasculature, in addition to oxidative stress and autophagy. An improved understanding of how ageing modifies these factors may lead to the development of different therapeutic strategies that target specific risk factors or processes involved in glaucoma.

Amyloid-beta and tau protein beyond Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: The aggregation of amyloid-beta peptide and tau protein dysregulation are implicated to play key roles in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis and are considered the main pathological hallmarks of this devastating disease. Physiologically, these two proteins are produced and expressed within the normal human body. However, under pathological conditions, abnormal expression, post-translational modifications, conformational changes, and truncation can make these proteins prone to aggregation, triggering specific disease-related cascades. Recent studies have indicated associations between aberrant behavior of amyloid-beta and tau proteins and various neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as retinal neurodegenerative diseases like Glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Additionally, these proteins have been linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, traumatic brain injury, and diabetes, which are all leading causes of morbidity and mortality. In this comprehensive review, we provide an overview of the connections between amyloid-beta and tau proteins and a spectrum of disorders.

Behavioral responses to natural rewards in developing male and female rats.

Reward deficits are a hallmark feature of multiple psychiatric disorders and often recapitulated in rodent models useful for the study of psychiatric disorders, including those employing early life stress. Moreover, rodent studies have shown sex differences during adulthood in response to natural and drug rewards under normative conditions and in stress-based rodent models. Yet, little is known about the development of reward-related responses under normative conditions, including how these may differ in rats of both sexes during early development. Comparing reward-related behavioral responses between developing male and female rats may be useful for understanding how these processes may be affected in rodent models relevant to psychiatric disorders. To this end, we tested behavioral responses to natural rewards in male and female rats using sucrose consumption, sweet palatable food intake and social play tests at two timepoints (peripuberty, adolescence). Our results suggest comparable responses to consummatory and social rewards in male and female rats during peripuberty and adolescence as no sex differences were found for sucrose preference, chocolate candy intake or a subset of play behaviors (dorsal contacts, pins). These findings suggest that sex differences in response to these natural rewards emerge and may be more robust during adulthood.

The Effects of Antenatal Interventions on Gestational Weight Gain in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Gestational weight gain (GWG) is a crucial determinant of maternal and child outcomes yet remains an underused target for antenatal interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to identify and summarize educational, behavioral, nutritional, and medical interventions on GWG from randomized controlled trials conducted in LMICs. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials that documented the effects of antenatal interventions on GWG in LMICs will be included. The interventions of interest will be educational, behavioral, nutritional, or medical. A systematic literature search will be conducted using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and the Cochrane Library from the inception of each database through October 2022 (with an updated search in January 2024). A total of 2 team members will independently perform the screening of studies and data extraction. A narrative synthesis of all the included studies will be provided. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The certainty of the evidence for each homogeneous group of interventions will be assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach. A narrative synthesis of the included studies will be conducted to summarize mean differences (with 95% CIs) for continuous outcomes and risk ratios, rate ratios, hazard ratios, or odds ratios (with 95% CIs) for dichotomous or categorical outcomes. Available information on the costs of interventions will also be summarized to facilitate the adoption and scale-up of effective GWG interventions. RESULTS: The development of the research questions, search strategy, and search protocol was started on September 20, 2022. The database searches and the importation of the identified records into Covidence were performed on October 7, 2022. As of September 2023, the title and abstract screening was ongoing. The target completion time of this systematic review is April 2024. CONCLUSIONS: Without effective interventions to manage GWG, the potential to improve maternal and child health through optimal GWG remains unrealized in LMICs. This systematic review will inform the design and implementation of antenatal interventions to prevent inadequate and excessive GWG in resource-limited settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) CRD42022366354; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=366354. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/48234.

Ingroup love, outgroup hate, and the gateway group effect: Comparing the direct and indirect impact of dual versus single identification.

Decades of research in social identity have shown that people instinctively hold positive attitudes towards ingroup members and negative attitudes towards outgroup members. However, it remains unclear how people respond to individuals explicitly identified with both one's ingroup and outgroup. We propose that when people are exposed to dual-identified individuals and groups (e.g., Muslim-Americans explicitly identifying with both their Muslim and American identities), intergroup attitudes will improve, driven more by the ingroup component (American), despite the presence of the outgroup component (Muslim). Moreover, we suggest exposure to dual-identification can also improve attitudes toward the broader outgroup (Muslims more generally), a phenomenon called the gateway-group effect. To test these hypotheses, we created a new measure of dual-identification and conducted three studies involving both Muslim-Americans and Mexican-Americans. Results confirmed that exposure to explicitly dual-identified groups improved attitudes towards the dual-identified group (e.g., Mexican-Americans) as well as toward the respective outgroup (e.g., Mexicans).

Age-related deficits in retinal autophagy following intraocular pressure elevation in autophagy reporter mouse model.

This study quantified age-related changes to retinal autophagy using the CAG-RFP-EGFP-LC3 autophagy reporter mice and considered how aging impacts autophagic responses to acute intraocular pressure (IOP) stress. IOP was elevated to 50 mm Hg for 30 minutes in 3-month-old and 12-month-old CAG-RFP-EGFP-LC3 (n = 7 per age group) and Thy1-YFPh transgenic mice (n = 3 per age group). Compared with younger eyes, older eyes showed diminished basal autophagy in the outer retina, while the inner retina was unaffected. Autophagic flux (red:yellow puncta ratio) was elevated in the inner plexiform layer. Three days following IOP elevation, older eyes showed poorer functional recovery, most notably in ganglion cell responses compared to younger eyes (12 months old: -33.4 ±â€¯5.3% vs. 3 months mice: -13.4 ±â€¯4.5%). This paralleled a reduced capacity to upregulate autophagic puncta volume in the inner retina in older eyes, a response that was seen in younger eyes. Age-related decline in basal and stress-induced autophagy in the retina is associated with greater retinal ganglion cells' susceptibility to IOP elevation.

Measuring the Full-Field Electroretinogram in Rodents.

Electroretinography allows for noninvasive functional assessment of the retina and is a mainstay for preclinical studies of retinal function in health and disease. The full-field electroretinogram is useful for a variety of applications as it returns a functional readout from each of the major cell classes within the retina: photoreceptors, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, and retinal ganglion cells. Rodent models are commonly employed in ocular degeneration studies due to the fast throughput of these mammalian species and the conservation of the electroretinogram from the preclinic to the clinic. Here we describe approaches for in vivo electroretinography in rodent models.