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From the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. Heterozygous Pro23His rhodopsin line 1 rats (n = 11) were treated daily, according to a protocol applied successfully in rd mice, with D-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride increased incrementally from 21 to 54 mg/kg in a divided dose (8 AM and 8 PM) administered by intraperitoneal (IP) injection for 21 days, beginning on days of age 10 through 12. Saline-treated line 1 rats (n = 6) received IP injections of an equal volume of 0.9% saline. Analysis on day 35 of age included dark-adapted corneal electroretinogram (ERG) b- and a-waves recorded from threshold to 0.63 log candela-seconds [cd-s]/m2, saturated a-waves elicited with a 2.1 log cd-s/m2 flash, and morphometry of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and rod outer segments (ROS).
RESULTS. ONL width and cell counts of diltiazem-treated and saline-treated animals at 35 days were reduced to 64%68% of 15-day-old untreated P23H line 1 retinas. No photoreceptor rescue was found by measuring ONL width (P = 0.84), cell count (P = 0.42), or ROS length (P = 0.85). Functional assays by ERG b-wave threshold (P = 0.57), b-wave maximum amplitude (P = 0.46), and saturated a-wave amplitude (P = 0.59) also showed no rescue.
CONCLUSIONS. D-cis-Diltiazem did not rescue photoreceptors of Pro23His rhodopsin mutation line 1 rats treated according to the protocol used in rd mouse.
| Introduction |
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Rod photoreceptor degeneration is the end stage of all forms of RP and is the result of many different genetic mutations. Among the most common are mutations in the rhodopsin gene including Pro23His (P23H).11 The P23H rhodopsin mutation causes retinal diseases by a dominant negative mechanism, a single mutant allele causing autosomal dominant disease. The precise mechanism by which P23H causes disease is uncertain, but it may involve abnormal disc morphogenesis.12 In human adRP from the P23H mutation, activation of the phototransduction cascade is reduced, as is recovery from activation.13 14 Recovery from activation is slowed in the P23H mouse model also.15 It is well known that calcium is involved in recovery of the photoresponse,16 17 and slowed recovery could therefore result from abnormal Ca2+ ion movement or levels. In addition, cell death occurs through the process of apoptosis in the P23H mouse18 in which Ca2+ ions may play a significant role.19 To determine whether a Ca2+ channel blocker would retard degeneration in this model, we applied the methods of the previous studies of diltiazem in the rd mouse1 20 to the P23H rhodopsin transgenic rat and scaled the dosage appropriately for body weight. No rescue of rod photoreceptors was found by histologic cell count or by functional assay with the electroretinogram.
| Methods |
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All rats were bred, born, and reared in our laboratory on a 12-12 hour lightdark cycle of fluorescent white 5-lux light at cage level. Animals were weaned at 21 days and were fed a high-fat breeding chow (Formulab; PMI Feed, Richmond, IN) ad libitum. Pups from two litters were used.
Treatment and Dose Regimen
D-cis-Diltiazem hydrochloride (D2521;
Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was dissolved in 0.9% saline, sterilized through
a 0.20-µm filter (Corning, Corning, NY) and one half the total daily
dose was administered by intraperitoneal injection twice daily (8 AM
and 8 PM). The treatment regimen was identical with that used in the
rd mouse study1
in which dose was scaled for
body weight, and in this case, by weight of the rats. Also, as in the
rd mouse study, the dosage was escalated over the first few
days and reached a final dosage of 54 mg/kg per day from postnatal day
17 onward.
Two litters were treated, each for 21 days. Litter 1 began on postnatal day 12, (average weight 40 g), and had four diltiazem- (two male, two female) and two saline-treated (male) rats. Litter 2 began on postnatal day 10, (average weight, 31 g), with seven diltiazem- (three male, four female) and four saline-treated (one male, three female) rats. Diltiazem-treated animals (n = 11) received incrementally increasing doses to avoid toxicity, beginning at 21 mg/kg per day and increasing to 33 mg/kg on day 13 and 54 mg/kg from day 17 onward. Control-treated rats (n = 6) received IP injections of filter-sterilized 0.9% saline. Rats were weighed each day to calculate the dose. Average weight at termination was 130 g for litter 1 and 115 g for litter 2.
These doses are far higher than those used to treat human cardiac disease, in which an oral dose of less than 1 mg/kg is administered four times daily.23 In 5-week-old SD rats (140 g) we found lethality with single IP doses of 100 to 300 mg/kg. This is intermediate between the median lethal dose (LD50) of 38 mg/kg by the intravenous route and 535 mg/kg by subcutaneous injection in rat.24 The dose schedule in this study is higher than clinical doses of the drug and nontoxic levels in rat.
ERG Recording
ERGs were recorded beginning 56 hours after the final injection to
allow for partial clearance of diltiazem. Rats were dark adapted for 12
hours and prepared under dim red light. Animals were anesthetized with
a loading dose mixture of xylazine (13 mg/kg, intramuscular injection)
and ketamine (86 mg/kg, intramuscularly) and maintained with
subcutaneous infusion of the anesthesia mixture by pump. Pupils were
dilated with topical 0.1% atropine and 0.1% phenylephrine HCl. The
animals were held steady with a bite bar and nose clamp and placed on a
heating pad to maintain body temperature. Scotopic ERGs were recorded
simultaneously from both eyes using gold wire loops on the cornea, with
1% tetracaine topical anesthesia and methylcellulose to maintain
corneal hydration. A gold reference electrode was positioned on the
sclera 1 mm from the temporal limbus, and the ground electrode was
clipped to the ear. Responses were amplified at 5000 gain from 0.1 to
1000 Hz and digitized at a 10-kHz rate. Scotopic intensity response
functions were obtained from threshold to a maximum of 0.63 log
candela-seconds (cd-s)/m2 (PS33 Stimulator; Grass
Instrument, Quincy, MA) in a ganzfeld bowl and attenuated with
neutral-density filters. Saturated a-waves were elicited by bright
photostrobe flashes of 2.1 log cd-s/m2 (model
283; Vivitar, Santa Monica, CA) and computer averaged, with stimulus
intervals of 3 to 120 seconds, depending on stimulus intensity.
Threshold criterion amplitude was 50 µV for both the scotopic a- and
b-waves. a-Waves were measured from the baseline to trough, and b-waves
were measured from the baseline or from the a-wave trough.
Histology
Rats were killed with a sodium pentobarbital overdose after ERG
recordings. Eyes were removed, marked for orientation, and kept
overnight at 4°C in fixative of 2% paraformaldehyde and 2.5%
glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer. Eyes were trimmed and
postfixed in 1% osmium for 1 hour. Epon-embedded tissue was sectioned
at 1 µm along the vertical meridian through the optic nerve and
stained with toluidine blue for light microscopy.
Outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness in column cell counts and rod outer segment (ROS) length were measured every 400 µm in each retinal half beginning 200 µm from the optic nerve head and averaged across the entire retinal section, excluding the measurements nearest the ora serrata. ROS length was not measured in areas of artifactitious retinal separation that occurred after death with lens removal for tissue processing. Data were compared with the two-tailed Students t-test in age-matched animals.
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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We performed this study to learn whether the protection conveyed by diltiazem in the rd mouse with the ß-PDE mutation could be extended to other genetic forms of retinal degenerationspecifically, to disease caused by the P23H rhodopsin mutation that is present in approximately 12% of patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) in the United States.25
The calcium-channel blocker D-cis-diltiazem has been used in the rd mouse with the rationale that this animal model of photoreceptor degeneration causes an abnormal increase in the cGMP concentration that is correlated with rod cell death7 to a level that can become toxic to normal photoreceptors.8 26 Although the mechanism of protection by D-cis-diltiazem in the rd mouse is not fully understood, a modulation of calcium levels by this drug was suggested.1 Intracellular calcium levels have not been directly imputed in the mechanism of disease leading to cell death in the P23H rat or mouse.15 18 21 12 22 However, VPP mice with the P23H rhodopsin mutation15 and patients harboring P23H13 14 have delayed recovery after exposure to bleaching light. Further, VPP mouse studies showed delayed photoresponse recovery by double-flash measurements that suggested an abnormality in the biochemical reactions that underlie recovery, possibly involving delays in the kinetics of rhodopsin phosphorylation or in the binding and action of arrestin.15 These mechanisms,27 28 as well as guanyl cyclase16 and cGMP phosphodiesterase27 activity in the ROS, which are also involved in recovery of the photoresponse, are modulated by calcium levels. Therefore, it is possible that the P23H rhodopsin mutation results in abnormal intracellular calcium levels. Because intracellular calcium levels are known to influence cell survival and death,19 29 it is conceivable that manipulating calcium levels with a calcium-channel blocker such as D-cis-diltiazem would affect the course of retinal degeneration in the rodent model. The results of the present study, however, provide no support for either a protective or accelerating effect on cell death by diltiazem in the P23H rhodopsin mutation rat.
The rd mouse study with D-cis-diltiazem demonstrated a modest protective effect on cone photoreceptor survival. The rd mouse has poorly functional and nearly nonfunctional rods at a very young age, which forces the ERG end point to focus on cone responses. By contrast, the present study of P23H line 1 rat used rod function and rod cell counts to assay for protection. The cone ERG in the P23H line 1 rats remains normal at 4 weeks of age and, consequently, could not be used as an end point for this protection study.
| Summary |
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| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Submitted for publication February 11, 2000; revised March 31, 2000; accepted April 13, 2000.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
Corresponding author: Ronald A. Bush, Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration, W. K. Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. rbush{at}umich.edu
| References |
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