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Photoreceptors in the rat retina are specifically vulnerable to both hypoxia and hyperoxia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2005

JOHN WELLARD ,
DONALD LEE ,
KRISZTINA VALTER  and
JONATHAN STONE
JOHN WELLARD
Affiliation:
Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
DONALD LEE
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Histology and Institute for Biomedical Research, The University of Sydney, Australia
KRISZTINA VALTER
Affiliation:
Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Department of Anatomy and Histology and Institute for Biomedical Research, The University of Sydney, Australia
JONATHAN STONE
Affiliation:
Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Department of Anatomy and Histology and Institute for Biomedical Research, The University of Sydney, Australia
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Abstract

The current study aims to assess the vulnerability of photoreceptors in rat retina to variations in tissue oxygen levels. Young adult Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to air with the concentration of oxygen set at 10% (hypoxia), 21% (room air, normoxia), and four levels of hyperoxia (45%, 65%, 70%, and 75%), for up to 3 weeks. Their retinas were then examined for cell death, using the TUNEL technique. Hypoxia (10% oxygen) for 2 weeks caused a limited but significant rise in the frequency of TUNEL+ (dying) cells in the retina, the great majority (> 90%) being located in the outer nuclear layer (ONL). Hyperoxia also induced an increase in the frequency of TUNEL+ cells, again predominantly in the ONL. The increase rose with duration of exposure, up to 2 weeks. At 2 weeks exposure, the increase was limited yet significant at 45% oxygen, and maximal at 65%. Where the frequencies of TUNEL+ cells were high, it was evident that photoreceptor death was maximal in the midperipheral retina. The adult retina is vulnerable to maintained shifts in oxygen availability to the retina, both below and above normal. The vulnerability is specific to photoreceptors; other retinal neurons appeared resistant to the exposures tested. Shifts in retinal oxygen levels caused by variations in ambient light, by the persistence of light through the normally dark (night) half of the day–night cycle, or by depletion of the photoreceptor population, may contribute to photoreceptor death in the normal retina.

Keywords

OxygenPhotoreceptor degenerationCritical periodHypoxiaHyperoxia
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , July 2005 , pp. 501 - 507
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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