Abstract
Abstract: :
PURPOSE: Patients with idiopathic CNV have a smaller CNV, and natural regression is more frequently observed compared with those with in exudative age–related macular degeneration. In the current study, to investigate the possible influence of age on experimental CNV, the activity of CNV was evaluated in mouse eyes with laser–induced CNV. METHODS: One–hundred eleven C57bl/6 mice aging between 37 to 502 days were used. CNV was induced by diode laser–photocoagulation (Spot size 200mm, exposure time 0.01 seconds, power 220mW) in the right eyes of these mice. Five days thereafter, fluorescein angiography was performed to evaluate the leakage from CNV. To calculate the integrated lesion intensity (ILI) reflecting the integrated lesion hyperfluorescence from the photocoagulated lesions, 4 to 6 minutes images were digitized and analyzed by NIH software. The ILIs were averaged to give the value for one eye. Fluorescein angiography was performed with the observer masked as to treatment. The lesions were also investigated histologically. Results: Fluorescein leakage from the CNV lesions had robustly increased in the eyes of older mice compared to the leakage in the young mice. Strong correlation was observed between the age and the ILI (Coefficient of correlation 0.5654). Histologically, the CNV lesions from the older mice was larger, more vascularized, and contained less pigmented cells compared to those from the young mice. Conclusions: These results suggest the possibility that age may influence of the activity of CNV, regardless of the cause.
Keywords: aging • choroid: neovascularization • retinal pigment epithelium