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Neumaier F, Kotliar K, Haeren RHL, Temel Y, Lüke JN, Seyam O, Lindauer U, Clusmann H, Hescheler J, Schubert GA, Schneider T, Albanna W. Retinal Vessel Responses to Flicker Stimulation Are Impaired in Ca v 2.3-Deficient Mice-An in-vivo Evaluation Using Retinal Vessel Analysis (RVA). Front Neurol 2021; 12:659890. [PMID: 33927686 PMCID: PMC8076560 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.659890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: Metabolic demand increases with neuronal activity and adequate energy supply is ensured by neurovascular coupling (NVC). Impairments of NVC have been reported in the context of several diseases and may correlate with disease severity and outcome. Voltage-gated Ca2+-channels (VGCCs) are involved in the regulation of vasomotor tone. In the present study, we compared arterial and venous responses to flicker stimulation in Cav2.3-competent (Cav2.3[+/+]) and -deficient (Cav2.3[-/-]) mice using retinal vessel analysis. Methods: The mice were anesthetized and the pupil of one eye was dilated by application of a mydriaticum. An adapted prototype of retinal vessel analyzer was used to perform dynamic retinal vessel analysis. Arterial and venous responses were quantified in terms of the area under the curve (AUCart/AUCven) during flicker application, mean maximum dilation (mMDart/mMDven) and time to maximum dilation (tMDart/tMDven) during the flicker, dilation at flicker cessation (DFCart/DFCven), mean maximum constriction (mMCart/mMCven), time to maximum constriction (tMCart/tMCven) after the flicker and reactive magnitude (RMart/RMven). Results: A total of 33 retinal scans were conducted in 22 Cav2.3[+/+] and 11 Cav2.3[-/-] mice. Cav2.3[-/-] mice were characterized by attenuated and partially reversed arterial and venous responses, as reflected in significantly lower AUCart (p = 0.031) and AUCven (p = 0.047), a trend toward reduced DFCart (p = 0.100), DFCven (p = 0.100), mMDven (p = 0.075), and RMart (p = 0.090) and a trend toward increased tMDart (p = 0.096). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study using a novel, non-invasive analysis technique to document impairment of retinal vessel responses in VGCC-deficient mice. We propose that Cav2.3 channels could be involved in NVC and may contribute to the impairment of vasomotor responses under pathophysiological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Neumaier
- Department of Neurosurgery, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Nuclear Chemistry (INM-5), Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Konstantin Kotliar
- Department of Medical Engineering and Technomathematics, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Yasin Temel
- Department of Neurosurgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Jan Niklas Lüke
- Institute for Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Osama Seyam
- Department of Medical Engineering and Technomathematics, FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany
| | - Ute Lindauer
- Department of Neurosurgery, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Tranlational Neurosurgery and Neurobiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Hans Clusmann
- Department of Neurosurgery, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Jürgen Hescheler
- Institute for Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | | | - Toni Schneider
- Institute for Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Walid Albanna
- Department of Neurosurgery, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute for Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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