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Decreasing intraocular pressure significantly improves retinal vessel density, cytoarchitecture and visual function in rodent oxygen induced retinopathy

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Abstract

We attempted to explore a noninvasive, easily applicable and economically affordable therapy for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Rat pups were raised in 80% oxygen from postnatal day 7 to P12, and returned to room air. Travoprost eye drops were administered twice a day for 7 days, to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) by about 20%. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to visualize vessel endothelial cells, to analyze retinal neurons and cytoarchitecture. Behavioral experiments were carried out to test visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. At the end of the 7-day treatment, the number of vessels extending to the vitreous body was significantly reduced and retinal vessel density increased. This improvement was maintained to the end of the 12th week. In the central retina of the model group, the horizontal cells were completely wiped out, the outer plexiform layer was undetectable, and the rod bipolar cell dendrites sprouted into the outer nuclear layer. The treatment partially reverted these architectural changes. Most importantly, behavioral experiments revealed significantly improved visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in the treated group. Therefore, reducing IOP could potentially serve as a safe and economical measure to treat ROP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Jiaying Ju for technical support. This work was funded by a key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31030036) to SH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Rui Du, Xu Wang, Ke Shen & Shigang He

  2. Institute of Natural Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Shigang He

  3. Bio-X Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Shigang He

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  1. Rui Du
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Correspondence to Shigang He.

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The author(s) declare that they have no conflict of interest. All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest, or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

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Du, R., Wang, X., Shen, K. et al. Decreasing intraocular pressure significantly improves retinal vessel density, cytoarchitecture and visual function in rodent oxygen induced retinopathy. Sci. China Life Sci. 63, 290–300 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-018-9559-x

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