THE HYPOTHERMIA MIMETIC SYNTHETIC MOLECULE ZR17-2 PREVENTS RETINAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY PERINATAL ASPHYXIA.

REY-FUNES, M.; FERNANDEZ, JC; PELAEZ, R.; SOLIÑO, M.; CONTARTESE, DS.; CIRANNA, NICOLÁS S.; NAKAMURA,R.; DORFMAN, VB.; ZAPICO, JM.; RAMOS, A.; DE PASCUAL-TERESA, D.; LÓPEZ, JJ; LARRAYOZ, IM.; MARTÍNEZ, A.; LOIDL CF.

Granada

Congreso; XXI Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Histología e Ingeniería Tisular. IX International Congress of Histology and Tissue Engineering. VIII Congreso Iberoamericano de Histología.; 2022

Sociedad Española de Histología e Ingeniería Tisular

Introduction. Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is responsible for a large proportion of neonatal deaths and numerous neurological sequelae, including visual dysfunction and blindness. During PA, the retina is exposed to ischemia/reoxygenation, which results in neuronal cell death and aberrant angiogenesis and gliosis. Since we have previously demonstrated that hypothermia prevents retinal damage caused by PA [1], we hypothesized that small molecule mimetics of hypothermia [2] may also prevent PA-induced retinal degeneration. Materials and methods. Male rat pups were subjected to an experimental model of PA [1]. Four groups were studied: i) normally delivered (CTL); ii) normally delivered treated with 330 nmols/L zr17-2 (CTL-ZR); iii) exposed to PA for 20 min at 37ºC (PA); and iv) exposed to PA and, then, treated with zr17-2 (PA-ZR). Five days after birth, some rats were sacrificed and the eyes were studied by TUNEL assay. Forty five days after birth, other animals were subjected to electroretinography (ERG), sacrificed, and the eyes studied by histology, Results. Electroretinography showed that PA animals had significant defects in the a- and b-waves and oscillatory potentials. The same animals presented a significant increase in the thickness of the inner retina and a large number of TUNEL-positive cells (Fig. 1). All these physiological and morphological parameters were significantly prevented by the treatment with zr17-2. Conclusions. zr17-2 protects from cell death and restores electrophysiological function in the retina. This molecule could be used as a treatment to prevent the deleterious visual consequences of PA.