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1 From the Departments of Physiology and 2 Neuroscience, Ophthalmology Division, University of Uppsala; and 3 Department of Medicine and Surgery, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Uppsala, Sweden.
PURPOSE. To investigate if retinal blood flow decreases with progression of the disease in Abyssinian cats with progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), to examine if the choroidal blood flow was affected by the disease, and to determine the uptake of glucose and formation of lactate in the outer retina.
METHODS. Local blood flow in different parts of the eye was determined with
radioactive microspheres, in 9 normal cats and in 10 cats at different
stages of PRA. Three blood flow determinations were made in each
animal, during control conditions, after IV administration of
indomethacin and after subsequent administration of
N
-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA).
Blood samples from a choroidal vein and a femoral artery were collected
to determine the retinal formation of lactate and uptake of glucose.
RESULTS. In Abyssinian cats with PRA (n = 10), the retinal
blood flow was significantly (P
0.01) lower than
in normal cats (n = 9) during control conditions,
6.4 ± 1.7 compared with 14.1 ± 1.9 g
min-1 (100 g)-1. The vascular resistance in
the iris and ciliary body was significantly higher in the cats at a
late stage of PRA, both compared with normal cats and to cats at an
early stage of the disease, whereas the choroidal vascular resistance
was not significantly affected. Indomethacin had no effect on ocular
blood flows in normal cats, but in cats with PRA, iridal blood flow was
more than doubled after indomethacin. The retinal formation of lactate
was significantly (P
0.001) lower in cats with
PRA than in normal cats, 0.111 ± 0.035 (n =
8) compared with 0.318 ± 0.024 (n = 8) µmol
min-1. The uptake of glucose was not significantly
different in cats with PRA.
CONCLUSIONS. Retinal blood flow is severely decreased in Abyssinian cats at a late stage of retinal degeneration, whereas the choroidal microcirculation is not significantly affected by the disease. At a late stage of retinal degeneration, vascular resistance in the iris is significantly increased, which at least in part could be caused by cyxlooxygenase products.
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L. Padnick-Silver, J. J. K. Derwent, E. Giuliano, K. Narfstrom, and R. A. Linsenmeier Retinal oxygenation and oxygen metabolism in abyssinian cats with a hereditary retinal degeneration. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., August 1, 2006; 47(8): 3683 - 3689. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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