Abstract
Purpose :
To characterize the development of retinal vascular changes associated with diabetic retinopathy in murine models of type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus using a multi-modal in vivo imaging system built for mouse retinal imaging.
Methods :
Murine models of type 1 diabetes mellitus (i.e. streptozotocin-induced) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (i.e. C57BLKS-Leprdb homozygotes mice, db/db) were imaged serially using a multi-modal in vivo retinal imaging system built for mouse retinal imaging. This system combines a SLO fundus camera and a spectral-domain OCT instrument such that simultaneous fluorescein angiography and phase-variance OCT angiography can be performed (pv-OCTA) to evaluate retinal perfusion.
Results :
Early retinal vascular changes consistent with diabetic retinopathy were noted using both fluorescein angiography and pv-OCTA in type 1 and 2 diabetic mice. Fluorescein angiography detected microaneurysmal changes in the retinal vasculature and associated vascular leakage in type 1 diabetic mice consistent with diabetic retinopathy. Although simultaneous pv-OCTA did not detect retinal vascular leakage, some of the retinal vascular microaneurysmal changes noted on fluorescein angiography also could be detected using pv-OCTA. Among db/db type 2 diabetic mice, subtle areas of probable retinal capillary non-perfusion detected on fluorescein angiography were visualized more clearly using pv-OCTA. Phase variance-OCTA allowed 3-dimensional vascular imaging, localizing the retinal vascular changes seen on fluorescein angiography images more precisely to a specific retinal layer, feature not possible using fluorescein angiography alone.
Conclusions :
Simultaneous multi-modal in vivo retinal vascular imaging using fluorescein angiography and pv-OCTA allows improved detection and characterization of early retinal vascular changes associated with diabetic retinopathy in murine models of type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.