Purpose: L-DOPA treatment initiated at the start of hyperglycemia preserves retinal and visual function in diabetic rats. Here, we investigated a more clinically relevant treatment strategy in which retinal and visual dysfunction designated the beginning of the therapeutic window for L-DOPA treatment.
Methods: Spatial frequency thresholds using optomotor response and oscillatory potential (OP) delays using electroretinograms were compared at baseline, 3, 6, and 10 weeks after streptozotocin (STZ) between diabetic and control rats. L-DOPA/carbidopa treatment (DOPA) or vehicle was delivered orally 5 days per week beginning at 3 weeks after STZ, when significant retinal and visual deficits were measured. At 10 weeks after STZ, retinas were collected to measure L-DOPA, dopamine, and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels using high-performance liquid chromatography.
Results: Spatial frequency thresholds decreased at 6 weeks in diabetic vehicle rats (28%), whereas diabetic DOPA rats had stable thresholds (<1%) that maintained to 10 weeks, creating significantly higher thresholds compared with diabetic vehicle rats (P < 0.0001). OP2 implicit times in response to dim, rod-driven stimuli were decreased in diabetic compared with control rats (3 weeks, P < 0.0001; 10 weeks, P < 0.01). With L-DOPA treatment, OP2 implicit times recovered in diabetic rats to be indistinguishable from control rats by 10 weeks after STZ. Rats treated with L-DOPA showed significantly increased retinal L-DOPA (P < 0.001) and dopamine levels (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: L-DOPA treatment started after the detection of retinal and visual dysfunction showed protective effects in diabetic rats.
Translational Relevance: Early retinal functional deficits induced by diabetes can be used to identify an earlier therapeutic window for L-DOPA treatment which protects from further vision loss and restores retinal function.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/tvst.10.4.8 | DOI Listing |
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
January 2025
Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Research Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory for Ophthalmology, Jiangxi Clinical Research Center for Ophthalmic Disease, Nanchang, China.
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the role of SIRT4 in retinal protection, specifically its ability to mitigate excitotoxic damage to Müller glial cells through the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics and glutamate transporters (GLASTs).
Methods: A model of retinal excitatory neurotoxicity was established in mice. Proteins related to mitochondrial dynamics, GLAST, and SIRT4 were analyzed on days 0, 1, 3, and 5 following toxic injury.
Radiology
January 2025
From the Departments of Radiology (V.K., A.R., P.D.) and Pathology (J.N.), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham St, Little Rock, AR 72205.
A 61-year-old male patient without prior history of ophthalmologic problems presented with pain and redness in the left eye associated with slowly progressive proptosis over the previous 6 months. The patient also had diplopia in rightward and downward gaze. There was no vision loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Vitro Model
February 2024
iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua Camara Pestana, 6, Lisbon, Portugal.
Purpose: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a complication of diabetes and a primary cause of visual impairment amongst working-age individuals. DR is a degenerative condition in which hyperglycaemia results in morphological and functional changes in certain retinal cells. Existing treatments mainly address the advanced stages of the disease, which involve vascular defects or neovascularization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurophotonics
January 2025
University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Significance: Stimulus-evoked intrinsic optical signal (IOS) changes in retinal photoreceptors are critical for functional optoretinography (ORG). Optical coherence tomography (OCT), with its depth-resolved imaging capability, has been actively explored for IOS imaging of retinal photoreceptors. However, recent OCT studies have reported conflicting results regarding light-induced changes in the photoreceptor outer segments (OSs), with both elongation and shrinkage being observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Med Case Rep J
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.
Purpose: We report a case of Eales disease in Inuit and reflect on advances in telemedicine and treatment of retinal disease since the first report of Eales' disease in Greenlandic Inuit was published.
Patients And Methods: A 41-year-old Inuit female complaining of blurred vision was referred to our eye department. There had been no sign of diabetic retinopathy during diabetic eye screening and the patient had been treated for tuberculosis in 2010.
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