SUPERIOR CERVICAL GANGLIECTOMY INDUCES DRY AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION IN MICE: A NEW EXPERIMENTAL MODEL

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

CABA

Congreso; REUNIÓN CONJUNTA de SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS 2017; 2017

Dry age-related macular degeneration, a prevalent cause of blindness,is a progressive and degenerative disease, characterized byalterations in Bruch´s membrane, retinal pigment epithelium, andphotoreceptors exclusively localized in the macula. Despite thereare experimental murine models, the vast majority take too long todevelop retinal alterations, which in general are ubiquitous, manyresult from non-eye specific genetic manipulations, and most do notalways reproduce the hallmarks of human age-related macular degeneration.Choroid vessels receive sympathetic innervation fromthe superior cervical ganglion, which together with the parasympatheticsystem, regulate the blood flow. Choroid blood flow changeshave been involved in age-related macular degeneration developmentand progression. At present no experimental models take thisfactor into account. The aim of this work was to analyze the effect ofsuperior cervical gangliectomy on the choroid, Bruch´s membrane,retinal pigment epithelium, and retina. Adult male C57BL/6J micewere submitted to unilateral superior cervical gangliectomy anda contralateral sham procedure. Although superior cervical gangliectomyinduced ubiquitous choroid and choriocapillaris changes(p