The goal of this protocol is to characterize a novel model of glaucomatous neurodegeneration based on 360° thermic cauterization of limbal vascular plexus, inducing subacute ocular hypertension.
方法文章
The goal of this protocol is to characterize a novel model of glaucomatous neurodegeneration based on 360° thermic cauterization of limbal vascular plexus, inducing subacute ocular hypertension.
Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, is a heterogeneous group of ocular disorders characterized by structural damage to the optic nerve and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration, resulting in visual dysfunction by interrupting the transmission of visual information from the eye to the brain. Elevated intraocular pressure is the most important risk factor; thus, several models of ocular hypertension have been developed in rodents by either genetic or experimental approaches to investigate the causes and effects of the disease. Among those, some limitations have been reported such as surgical invasiveness, inadequate functional assessment, requirement of extensive training, and highly variable extension of retinal damage. The present work characterizes a simple, low-cost, and efficient method to induce ocular hypertension in rodents, based on low-temperature, full-circle cauterization of the limbal vascular plexus, a major component of aqueous humor drainage. The new model provides a technically easy, noninvasive, and reproducible subacute ocular hypertension, associated with progressive RGC and optic nerve degeneration, and a unique post-operative clinical recovery rate that allows in vivo functional studies by both electrophysiological and behavioral methods.
Medical literature understands glaucoma as a heterogeneous group of optic neuropathies characterized by progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), dendrites, soma, and axons, resulting in structural cupping (excavation) of the optic disc and functional deterioration of the optic nerve, leading to amaurosis in uncontrolled cases by interrupting the transmission of visual information from the eye to the brain1. Glaucoma is currently the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, predicted to reach approximately 111.8 million people in 20402, thus deeply affecting patients' quality of life (QoL) and leading to significant socioeconomic concerns3.
Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is one of the most important and the only modifiable risk factor for the development and progression of glaucoma. Among the multiple types of glaucoma, all, except for normal tension glaucoma (NTG), are associated with elevated IOP at some time in the clinical history of the disease. Despite remarkable clinical and surgical advances to target IOP and slow down or stop disease progression, patients still lose sight due to glaucoma4,5. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the complex and multifactorial pathophysiology of this disease is imperative for the development of more effective treatments, especially to provide neuroprotection to RGCs.
Among a variety of experimental approaches for the understanding of disease mechanisms, animal models based on ocular hypertension (OHT) most closely resemble human glaucoma. Rodent models are particularly useful as they are low-cost, are easy to handle, can be genetically manipulated, have a short lifespan, and present ocular anatomical and physiological features comparable to humans, such as aqueous humor production and drainage6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Currently used models include sclerosis of the trabecular meshwork following injection of hypertonic saline into episcleral veins14, intracameral injection of microbeads15 or viscoelastic substances16, cauterization of vortex veins17, photocoagulation of the trabecular meshwork with argon laser18, circumlimbal suture19, and use of a transgenic model of age-related OHT (DBA/2J mice)8. However, invasiveness, post-operative opacification of the cornea, anterior segment disruption, extensive learning curves, expensive equipment, and highly variable postoperative IOPs, are among few of the reported pitfalls associated with the current models, making the development of an alternative model of OHT a demand to overcome these problems20,21,22.
The present protocol formalizes a novel surgical procedure to induce OHT as a proxy to glaucoma, based on limbal plexus cauterization (LPC) in rodents23. This is an easy, reproducible, accessible, and non-invasive model that provides high efficiency and low variability of IOP elevation, associated with a uniquely high rate of full clinical recovery, therefore providing in vivo functional evaluation in a reduced number of animals used in each experiment. The surgery technique induces subacute OHT with a gradual return to baseline levels in a few days, which models the hypertensive attack seen in acute angle-closure glaucoma. Moreover, the IOP recovery in the model is followed by continuous glaucomatous neurodegeneration, which is useful for future mechanistic studies of the secondary degeneration of RGCs, which occurs in several cases of human glaucoma despite adequate control of IOP.
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All procedures were performed in compliance with the Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Visual Research from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and approved by the Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals in Scientific Experimentation from the Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (protocol 083/17). In the present work, Lister Hooded rats of both genders were used, aged 2-3 months and weighing 180-320 g. However, the procedure can be adapted in different rat strains of various age ranges.
1. Ocular hypertension surgery and clinical follow-up
2. Optomotor response (OMR) analysis
NOTE: For this procedure, a specific system was used25.
3. Recording of pattern-electroretinogram (PERG)
NOTE: The electroretinogram was recorded using a specific system for signal processing and related software for storage and analysis of the waveforms.
4. Quantification of retinal ganglion cells somas
NOTE: The following procedure is for quantification of RGC somas, based on immunohistochemical staining of retinal flat-mounts with an antibody against the brain-specific homeobox/POU domain protein 3A (Brn3a).
5. Examination of the optic nerve
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The quantitative variables are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Except for the comparison of IOP dynamics between OHT and control groups (Figure 1F), statistical analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA followed by Sidak's multiple comparisons test. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Figure 1 illustrates surgical steps of the full-circle limbal plexus cauterization (LPC) model, with im...
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Limbal plexus cauterization (LPC) is a novel post-trabecular model with the advantage that it targets easily accessible vascular structures not requiring conjunctival or tenon dissection17,28. Differently from the vortex veins cauterization model, a renowned OHT model based on the surgical impairment to choroid venous drainage, venous congestion is not expected to influence IOP rise in the LPC model, as limbal veins are situated upstream in aqueous humor outflow....
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The authors have nothing to disclose.
We acknowledge our laboratory technicians José; Nilson dos Santos, Daianne Mandarino Torres, José Francisco Tibúrcio, Gildo Brito de Souza, and Luciano Cavalcante Ferreira. This research was funded by FAPERJ, CNPq, and CAPES.
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| 姓名 | 公司 | 目录编号 | 评论 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 丙酮 | Isofar | 201 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| 用于视网膜电图的有源电极 | Hansol Medical Co | - | 不锈钢针 0.25 毫米和次; 15 毫米 |
| Anestalcon | Novartis Biociências S/A | MS-1.0068.1087 | 盐酸丙美卡因 0.5% |
| 氯化钙 | Vetec | 560 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| 烧灼低温细尖 10/bx | Bovie Medical Corporation | AA00 | 低温眼科烧灼 |
| Cetamin | Syntec do Brasil Ltda | 000200-3-000003 | 盐酸氯胺酮 10% |
| DAKO | Dako North America | S3023 | 抗褪色封固剂 |
| DAPI | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 28718-90-3 | 二脒基-2-苯基吲哚;蓝色荧光核复染剂;发射量为452&以上:3 nm |
| Ecofilm | Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltda | MS-1.0298.0487 | 羧甲基纤维素钠 0.5% |
| EPON 树脂 | Polysciences, Inc. | - | 用于电子显微镜的环氧树脂,由四种试剂的混合物组成:Poly/Bed 812 树脂 (CAT#08791);DDSA - 十二烯基琥珀酸酐 (CAT#00563);NMA - Nadic 甲基酐 (CAT#00886);DMP-30 - 2,4,6-三(二甲基氨基甲基)苯酚 (CAT#00553) |
| 戊二醛 | 显微镜科学 | 16110 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| Hyabak | União Quí云母 Farmacêutica Nacional S/A | MS-8042140002 | 透明质酸钠 0.15% |
| Icare Tonolab | Icare Finland | Oy TV02(型号) | 回弹手持式眼压计 |
| IgG 驴抗小鼠抗体 + Alexa Fluor 555 | Thermo Fisher Scientific | A31570 | 二抗溶液 |
| 液晶显示器 23 英寸 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | S23B550 | Model LS23B550,用于视网膜电图记录 |
| LSM 510 Meta | Carl Zeiss | - | 共聚焦落射荧光显微镜 |
| Maxiflox | Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltda | MS-1.0298.0489 | 环丙沙星 3.5 mg/g |
| MEB-9400K | Nihon Kohden Corporation | - | 视网膜电图记录系统-用于视网膜电图记录 |
| 单克隆 IgG1 小鼠抗 Brn3a | MilliporeSigma | MAB-1585 | Brn3a 一抗溶液 |
| Neuropack Manager v08.33 | Nihon Kohden Corporation | - | 视网膜电图信号处理软件 |
| Optomotry | CerebralMechanics-System | for optomotor response analysis | |
| 四氧化锇 | 电子显微镜科学 | 19100 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| 亚铁氰化钾 | 电子显微镜科学 | 20150 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| 用于视网膜电图的参比电极和接地电极 | Chalgren Enterprises | 110-63 | 不锈钢针 0.4 mm & 次; 37 mm |
| 二甲胂酸钠缓冲液 | 电子显微镜科学 | 12300 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| Ster MD | União Quí云母 Farmacêutica Nacional S/A | MS-1.0497.1287 | 醋酸泼尼松龙 0.12% |
| Terolac | Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltda | MS-1.0497.1286 | 酮咯酸氨丁二醇 0.5% |
| Terramicina | Laboratórios Pfizer Ltda | MS-1.0216.0024 | 盐酸土霉素 30 mg/g + 多粘菌素 B 10,000 U/g |
| Tono-Pen XL | Reichert Technologies | 230635 | 数字压平手持式眼压计 |
| TO-PRO-3 | Thermo Fisher Scientific | T3605 | 远红荧光核复染剂;在 661 nm 处发射 |
| Triton X-100 | Sigma-Aldrich | 9036-19-5 | 非离子表面活性剂 |
| 乙酸铀酰 | 电子显微镜科学 | 22400 | 用于电子显微镜组织制备(步骤 5) |
| Xilazin | Syntec do Brasil Ltda | 7899 | 盐酸甲苯噻嗪 2% |
| 卡尔蔡司 | - | 用于手术和视网膜解剖的立体显微镜 |
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