Ischemic Conditioning Protects from Axoglial Alterations of the Optic Pathway Induced by Experimental Diabetes in Rats

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051966
• Publication Date: 2012-12-20T17:05:53Z
• Authors: Diego C. Fernandez; Laura A. Pasquini; Damián Dorfman; Hernán J. Aldana ...; Ruth E. Rosenstein
• Keywords: Superior colliculus

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness. Visual function disorders have been demonstrated in diabetics even before the onset retinopathy. At early stages experimental diabetes, axoglial alterations occur at distal portion optic nerve. Although ischemic conditioning can protect neurons and synaptic terminals against damage, there no information on its ability to axons. We analyzed effect nerve induced by diabetes. Diabetes was Wistar rats an intraperitoneal injection streptozotocin. Retinal ischemia increasing intraocular pressure 120 mm Hg for 5 min; this maneuver started 3 days after streptozotocin weekly repeated one eye, while contralateral eye submitted sham procedure. The application pulses prevented deficit anterograde transport from retina superior colliculus, as well increase astrocyte reactivity, ultraestructural myelin alterations, altered morphology oligodendrocyte lineage Ischemia tolerance significant decrease retinal glutamine synthetase activity These results suggest that vision loss diabetes could be abated which preserved axonal structure.