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1 From the Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. Newborn SpragueDawley rats were exposed to cycles of O2 (8010%) for 7 days, followed by 5 days of room air recovery. Preretinal NV was quantified by three masked observers counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retinas of both eyes. Retinal vascular and total retinal areas were calculated using computer-assisted analysis. Representative retinas that had been scored positive (n = 10) and negative (n = 3) for NV and room air control retinas (n = 3) were embedded in paraffin. Each entire peripheral retinal quadrant was serially sectioned at 6 µm and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Nuclei above the internal limiting membrane were then counted in a masked manner. The total number of nuclei counted per retina was defined as the nucleus count (704938 sections per retina; 12,900 sections). Correlations were evaluated using Spearman rank coefficients.
RESULTS. The nucleus count was 0 to 44 in room air control retinas, 0 to 40 in negative OIR retinas, and 250 to 5634 in positive OIR retinas. The nucleus count was highly correlated with the clock hour score (rs = 0.95, P = 0.0001). For the paired retinas, there was a significant correlation between right and left eyes in the severity of NV (clock hours; rs = 0.76, P = 0.0001) and the ratio of retinal vascular area to total retinal area (rs = 0.81, P = 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS. The more rapid method of counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retinas is valid for quantifying NV in rat models of ROP. Incidence and severity of NV and vascularized areas were similar between left and right eyes, which permits the use of paired retinas for complementary research techniques.
| Introduction |
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Models of ROP exhibit inherent variability analogous to clinical ROP; some retinas demonstrate severe preretinal neovascularization, whereas others have no or mild neovascularization. To study causative risk factors and potential interventions, the detection of small changes in severity is desirable. Small changes may have significant clinical impact if translated into the care of human infants at risk for ROP. To detect these potential small changes, a large number of retinas may be needed in each experiment to provide adequate statistical power. This potential need to use large numbers of retinas provides a rationale for the development of rapid scoring techniques such as counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retina. We now report a direct comparison of scoring flatmounted ADPase-stained retinas with counting cell nuclei in an OIR rat model.
In addition, performing different experimental techniques on the same retina, such as ADPase staining and RNA extraction, is often not possible. There is a need to establish whether a sufficient similarity exists between left and right retinas of the same animal, so that paired retinas can be used for different techniques. Therefore, we also studied the intereye correlation of neovascularization score and retinal vascular area.
| Methods |
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Animals and Experiment Environment
Seventy-five newborn SpragueDawley rats (Harlan SpragueDawley,
Indianapolis, IN), were randomly assigned to three expanded litters
(n = 25) as in our previous studies.5
6
7
13
Pups were assigned to a single mother for the duration of the
experiment. Mothers and litters received standard laboratory diet and
water ad libitum. Light was cycled on a 12-hour-on, 12-hour-off,
schedule, and the room was maintained at approximately 21°C. We used
our published model of OIR5
with added inspired 10%
CO2 (cycles of O2,
8010%) as the environment for this experiment. All 75 newborn rats
were exposed to this environment for 7 days, followed by 5 days of room
air recovery. Another three natural-sized litters (812 rats per
litter) raised in room air were used as normal control animals.
All animals were killed on day 13 of life by a lethal intramuscular injection of ketamine and xylazine. Both eyes were enucleated and placed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 90 minutes. The cornea, lens, and vitreous were surgically removed from each eye, and each retina was dissected.
Retinal Vascular Areas
All dissected retinas were placed in neutral buffered
formalin overnight and processed for magnesium-activated ADPase
staining as described by Lutty and McLeod.14
ADPase-stained retinas were temporarily flatmounted on microscope
slides in phosphate buffered saline with a coverslip and photographed.
The retinal images were captured by scanning the negatives with a
flatbed scanner (ScanMaker III; Microtek Laboratory, Redondo Beach,
CA). Vascularized and total retinal areas were calculated using
commercial software (Analyze; Biomedical Imaging Resource, Mayo
Foundation, Rochester, MN) by a masked examiner who traced the total
and vascular retinal areas.
Counting Clock Hours of Neovascularization
Each retina was evaluated by three masked examiners for the
presence and severity of neovascularization using light microscopy. The
presence and severity of neovascularization were quantified in a manner
that we5
6
7
13
and others3
have described
previously (i.e., similar to a technique described for clinical ROP
assessment). Briefly, each retinal quadrant was divided by visual
estimation into three equal parts (clock hours; Fig. 1A
), and each clock hour was scored for the presence or absence of
abnormal neovascularization. The quadrants were created to be of
approximately equal size, and each quadrant was defined by the cuts
made at dissection. Any small discrepancies between quadrant sizes
would be accounted for in the randomized design of previous and future
studies with a large enough sample size. Preretinal neovascularization
was defined as abnormal vascular structures morphologically distinct
from the normal developing vasculature, including ridges, clumps,
sheets, or tufts of endothelial cells (Figs. 1B
1C)
. In this way, each
retina was given a score between 0 and 12 clock hours by each examiner.
The median value was assigned as the final grade for that retina. The
total number of clock hours for each retina was considered to be an
approximate measure of severity of neovascularization. A clock hour was
scored as positive, regardless of the amount of neovascularization
within that clock hour. Although this method yields an approximate
score, a retina with 1 clock hour of neovascularization would clearly
contain less neovascularization than a retina scored as 6 clock hours.
We also included 18 control retinas from the room airexposed litters
to reduce the bias toward false positives, as we have described
previously.5
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Statistical Analysis
Correlations between neovascularization grade and cell nucleus
count and neovascularization and vascularized area for left and right
eyes were evaluated using nonparametric Spearman rank coefficients.
Nucleus counts in different groups were compared using an analysis of
variance with Bonferroni adjustments for multiple t-tests.
Interobserver agreement for incidence and severity of
neovascularization was assessed using the
statistic and by
calculating the percentage of retinas in which every observers score
was within 1 clock hour of the median.
| Results |
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Interobserver Agreement for Neovascularization Scores
For the 96 scored retinas (78 OIR and 18 control retinas),
interobserver reliability among three examiners was evaluated using the
statistic (Table 1)
.
These values (
= 0.680.78) indicate the interobserver
agreement for the incidence of neovascularization was good to
excellent.15
The individual grade for severity of
neovascularization among the three examiners was within 1 clock hour of
the median in 81 of the 96 retinas (84%).
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| Discussion |
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Counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retina has many advantages over other previously described methods of quantifying neovascularization in the animal models of ROP. The technique is rapid and allows scoring of many more retinas in a shorter time. In our experience, it takes 2 working days to quantify neovascularization in a single retina using the nucleus-counting technique. However, during the same 2-day period, we can process and grade approximately 80 retinas by counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained specimens. Counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retina is also a reliable method for quantifying neovascularization in the rat model of ROP. In our present study, the ADPase-stained OIR retinas scored negative for neovascularization (0 clock hours) had a maximum nucleus count of 40, which was similar to room air control retinas (44 nuclei). This low score in negative retinas contrasted with 250 to 5634 nuclei in retinas scored positive for neovascularization. We are therefore confident that the method of counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained rat retinas provides a reliable assessment of neovascularization in the rat model of ROP. The morphology of neovascularization found in other rat models of ROP is very similar to that in our model.1 2 3 4 We therefore believe that the technique of counting clock hours in flatmounted ADPase-stained retinas also can be applied to these similar rat models, regardless of litter size or oxygen exposure.
Clinical data have shown that infants with ROP had a similar ROP grade between left and right eyes.16 In the present study, we confirmed that there was a significant correlation in the ratio of retinal vascular area to total retinal area between right and left eyes, and there was also a significant correlation in the severity of neovascularization (clock hour score) between left and right eyes. Despite the variability among the animals, the responses between the paired eyes were remarkably similar in both vascularized area and the severity of neovascularization. Our results suggest that it is possible to use one eye for assessment of vascular morphology and the fellow eye for other studies (e.g., growth factor analysis).
Regarding the limitations of grading neovascularization by counting
clock hours, it is possible that the technique may have variability
among different examiners, partly due to the visual estimation of each
clock hour border. Nevertheless, in the present study, we found
excellent agreement between the individual grades for each retina with
the final grade of the retina among three examiners. The individual
grades for neovascularization from three examiners were within 1 clock
hour of the median grade in 81 of 96 retinas (84%). In a further
analysis of agreement, the
statistic indicated the interobserver
agreement for presence of neovascularization was good to excellent
(Table 1)
. Another limitation of our study is that a ridge of
neovascularization (Fig. 1B)
may obtain the same score as several tufts
(Fig. 1C)
. Such a clock hour is scored as positive, regardless of the
amount of neovascularization in that clock hour. Nevertheless, these
potential problems did not adversely influence the correlation of clock
hour score to nucleus count (Fig. 3B)
. In addition, we expect that such
differences would be accounted for, over a large number of retinas, in
an experimental randomized study.
Our results confirmed that counting clock hours in ADPase-stained retinas is a valid and reliable method of grading neovascularization in the rat model of ROP. The method has the advantage of being less time-consuming and labor-intensive than counting cell nuclei. Incidence of neovascularization, severity of neovascularization, and vascularized areas were similar between left and right eyes, and this may permit the use of paired eyes for complementary research techniques.
| Footnotes |
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Submitted for publication July 14, 1999; revised September 30, 1999; accepted October 26, 1999.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
Corresponding author: Jonathan M. Holmes, Department of Ophthalmology W7, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. holmes.jonathan{at}mayo.edu
| References |
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