June 2021
Volume 62, Issue 8
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2021
A Functional and Histological Analysis of Oxygen Sensitivity during the Critical Period of Retinal Development
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Rushil Brahmbhatt
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Jake Bernstein
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • christopher Sutera
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • E-Jine Tsai
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Paul Lecker
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • jessica Kim
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Monica Anne Faye Villegas
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Eric Gdovin
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Nathan Morrison
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Grzegorz Gorski
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Zeus Antonello
    Department of Surgery, Rowan University Cooper Medical School, Camden, New Jersey, United States
  • Mindy George-Weinstein
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Arturo Bravo Nuevo
    Division of Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Rushil Brahmbhatt, None; Jake Bernstein, None; christopher Sutera, None; E-Jine Tsai, None; Paul Lecker, None; jessica Kim, None; Monica Anne Faye Villegas, None; Eric Gdovin, None; Nathan Morrison, None; Grzegorz Gorski, None; Zeus Antonello, None; Mindy George-Weinstein, None; Arturo Bravo Nuevo, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  Anonymous grant to Dr. Arturo Bravo Nuevo
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2021, Vol.62, 1666. doi:
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      Rushil Brahmbhatt, Jake Bernstein, christopher Sutera, E-Jine Tsai, Paul Lecker, jessica Kim, Monica Anne Faye Villegas, Eric Gdovin, Nathan Morrison, Grzegorz Gorski, Zeus Antonello, Mindy George-Weinstein, Arturo Bravo Nuevo; A Functional and Histological Analysis of Oxygen Sensitivity during the Critical Period of Retinal Development. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2021;62(8):1666.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : The critical period (CP) is a post-natal time in which neuronal cell death occurs in development of the mouse retina. In the case of photoreceptors (PRs), the CP is important for creating a balance between the number of PRs and the metabolic resources. In rodent models, many PR-related abnormalities commence during the CP. It has been established in previous studies that a hyperoxic environment is effective in limiting PR death, but no functional studies have been performed to see whether it is translated to vision. The experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that hyperoxia would ameliorate stress and cell death during the CP and improve retinal function and morphology in both C57 (wild type) and C3H mice, a rapidly progressing degenerative model for retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Methods : Both C57 and C3H mice were exposed to normoxia (21% oxygen, control), hyperoxia (75% oxygen), or hypoxia (12% oxygen) from post-natal days (P) 7-20. Slides double-labelled for G8 and TUNEL (markers for stress and cell death, respectively) were used to obtain cell counts at P: 10, 12, 16, and 28. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and scotopic Electroretinograms (ERG) were used to assess the effect of oxygen levels on retina morphology and function, respectively. The OCTs were only conducted on C57 mice, while the ERGs were executed on both C57 and C3H mice.

Results : The OCT revealed that the outer nuclear layer (ONL) was thicker in C57 mice exposed to hyperoxia than control animals. Treatment with hyperoxia resulted in a significant increase in the mean ERG A-and B-wave amplitudes in both C57 and C3H mice. The cell count data indicated that hypoxia decreased while hyperoxia increased the number of PR cells during the CP.

Conclusions : These findings indicate that hyperoxia reduces PR cell death and improves function during the CP in the normal neonatal mouse retina and the C3H model of RP. Further studies are warranted to examine whether the beneficial effects of hyperoxia on slowing degeneration in C3H mice are more pronounced in less aggressive models of RP that resemble disease progression in humans.

This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.

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