RETINAL NEUROPROTECTION AGAINST ACUTE RETINAL ISCHEMIA INDUCED BY ISOLATED VISUAL STIMULATION IN ADULT RATS

GONZALEZ FLEITAS M FLORENCIA; SANDE PH; MILNE G; ROSENSTEIN RE; ARANDA ML; CHIANELLI MS; DORFMAN D; DIEGUEZ HH; IAQUINANDI A; KELLER SARMIENTO MI

CABA

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Sociedades de Biociencias

Enriched environment (EE) is a complex combination of inanimateand social interaction. EE boosts exploratory conduct, voluntaryphysical exercise, sensorial and cognitive functions, and social interaction.We have previously shown that EE induced neuroprotectionagainst unilateral retinal ischemia in adult rats. However, the relativecontribution of each component to the effects of EE is still controversial.Our aim was to dissect the individual contributions of theEE repertoire components in its protection against retinal ischemia.Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to unilateral or bilateral retinalischemia and afterwards housed in stardard environment (SE), EE,social environment (SoE), novelty environment (NE), or visual environment(VE). SE consisted in stardard laboratory cages housing 2animals/cage. EE consisted in big cages (100 x 50 x 82 cm) housing6 animals/cage with a variety of objects, tunnels and runningwheels daily relocated and weekly replaced. SoE and NE consistedin SE housing 5 animals/cage, and EE objects respectively. VEconsisted in SE cages surrounded by monitors showing black/whitecontrast (or grey patterns as controls) during the 12 h light phase.An antagonist for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Trk-b receptor(ANA-12) was administered to animals with unilateral retinalischemia exposed to black/white contrast patterns. Retinal function(electroretinography) and histology were analyzed 3 weeks after ischemia.Retinal ischemia induced functional and histological alterations(p