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Retinal Metabolic Changes in an Experimental Model of Optic Nerve Transection by Ex Vivo 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the retinal metabolic processes in a rat axotomy model. Retinal metabolic changes in optic nerve transection (ONT) rat model were analyzed by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) densities were assessed from retinal whole mounts. The retina was stained immunohistochemically with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The results showed that the retina in ONT rats had significantly decreased concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), taurine (Tau), creatine (Cr) and increased concentrations of alanine (Ala) compared with control. Examination of glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln) and Glx (Glu + Gln) concentrations disclosed no significant differences. The mean density of RGCs reduced from 2,249 ± 87 cells/mm2 in control group to 320 ± 56 cells/mm2 in ONT group. GFAP immunoreactivity was markedly higher in ONT group than that in control group. The retinal metabolism after ONT was associated with neurotransmitter recycling/production perturbation, as well as other metabolic disequilibrium.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant 30700922 from National Natural Science Foundation of China.

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No potential conflicts of interest are disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Shuang Li, Xinghua Wang, Fei Chen & Fagang Jiang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Mingming Huang, Xuxia Wang & Hao Lei

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  1. Shuang Li
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  2. Mingming Huang
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  3. Xinghua Wang
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  4. Xuxia Wang
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  7. Fagang Jiang
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Correspondence to Fagang Jiang.

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The authors Shuang Li and Mingming Huang contributed equally to this work.

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Li, S., Huang, M., Wang, X. et al. Retinal Metabolic Changes in an Experimental Model of Optic Nerve Transection by Ex Vivo 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Neurochem Res 36, 2427–2433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-011-0570-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-011-0570-7

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