Inflammation and breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier during "physiological aging" in the rat retina: a model for CNS aging.

Objective: To examine the possible contribution of inflammation and breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in the central nervous system (CNS) of physiologically aged rats showing cognitive decline.

Methods: Young (3- to 6-month-old) and aged (24- to 30-month-old) Wistar rats were assessed by the novel object recognition test. Vascular and inflammatory changes in the CNS were investigated in whole-mount preparations or sections of retinas from young adult or aged male Wistar rats.

Altered pericyte-endothelial relations in the rat retina during aging: implications for vessel stability.

Mural cells (smooth muscle cells and pericytes) regulate blood flow and contribute to vessel stability. We examined whether mural cell changes accompany age-related alterations in the microvasculature of the central nervous system. The retinas of young adult and aged Wistar rats were subjected to immunohistofluorescence analysis of alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA), caldesmon, calponin, desmin, and NG2 to identify mural cells.