Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats
Many recent research projects have described typical chronic changes in the retinal vasculature for diverse neurovascular and neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke or Alzheimer's disease. Unlike cerebral vasculature, retinal blood vessels can be assessed non-invasively by retinal vessel an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1116841/full |
| _version_ | 1827980606345052160 |
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| author | Laura Warner Annika Bach-Hagemann Annika Bach-Hagemann Tobias P. Schmidt Sarah Pinkernell Gerrit A. Schubert Gerrit A. Schubert Hans Clusmann Walid Albanna Walid Albanna Ute Lindauer Ute Lindauer Catharina Conzen-Dilger |
| author_facet | Laura Warner Annika Bach-Hagemann Annika Bach-Hagemann Tobias P. Schmidt Sarah Pinkernell Gerrit A. Schubert Gerrit A. Schubert Hans Clusmann Walid Albanna Walid Albanna Ute Lindauer Ute Lindauer Catharina Conzen-Dilger |
| author_sort | Laura Warner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many recent research projects have described typical chronic changes in the retinal vasculature for diverse neurovascular and neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke or Alzheimer's disease. Unlike cerebral vasculature, retinal blood vessels can be assessed non-invasively by retinal vessel analysis. To date, there is only a little information about potential simultaneous reactions of retinal and cerebral vessels in acute neurovascular diseases. The field of applications of retinal assessment could significantly be widened if more information about potential correlations between those two vascular beds and the feasibility of non-invasive retinal vessel analysis in acute neurovascular disease were available. Here, we present our protocol for the simultaneous assessment of retinal and cerebral vessels in an acute setting in anesthetized rats using a non-invasive retinal vessel analyzer and a superficial tissue imaging system for laser speckle contrast analysis via a closed bone window. We describe the experimental set-up in detail, outline the pitfalls of repeated retinal vessel analyses in an experimental set-up of several hours, and address issues that arise from the simultaneous use of two different assessment tools. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness and variability of the reactivity of retinal vessels to hypercapnia at baseline as well as their reproducibility over time using two anesthetic protocols common for neurovascular research. In summary, the procedures described in this protocol allow us to directly compare retinal and cerebral vascular beds and help to substantiate the role of the retina as a “window to the brain.” |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:56:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34a69b99cea3445b8bc0d1f7cb967344 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5099 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:56:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-34a69b99cea3445b8bc0d1f7cb9673442023-03-24T04:46:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience1662-50992023-03-011610.3389/fnmol.2023.11168411116841Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in ratsLaura Warner0Annika Bach-Hagemann1Annika Bach-Hagemann2Tobias P. Schmidt3Sarah Pinkernell4Gerrit A. Schubert5Gerrit A. Schubert6Hans Clusmann7Walid Albanna8Walid Albanna9Ute Lindauer10Ute Lindauer11Catharina Conzen-Dilger12Translational Neurosurgery and Neurobiology, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyTranslational Neurosurgery and Neurobiology, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyFraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, Department of Preclinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Hannover, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyTranslational Neurosurgery and Neurobiology, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Kantonsspital Aarau, Aarau, SwitzerlandDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyInstitute for Neurophysiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, GermanyTranslational Neurosurgery and Neurobiology, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyMany recent research projects have described typical chronic changes in the retinal vasculature for diverse neurovascular and neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke or Alzheimer's disease. Unlike cerebral vasculature, retinal blood vessels can be assessed non-invasively by retinal vessel analysis. To date, there is only a little information about potential simultaneous reactions of retinal and cerebral vessels in acute neurovascular diseases. The field of applications of retinal assessment could significantly be widened if more information about potential correlations between those two vascular beds and the feasibility of non-invasive retinal vessel analysis in acute neurovascular disease were available. Here, we present our protocol for the simultaneous assessment of retinal and cerebral vessels in an acute setting in anesthetized rats using a non-invasive retinal vessel analyzer and a superficial tissue imaging system for laser speckle contrast analysis via a closed bone window. We describe the experimental set-up in detail, outline the pitfalls of repeated retinal vessel analyses in an experimental set-up of several hours, and address issues that arise from the simultaneous use of two different assessment tools. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness and variability of the reactivity of retinal vessels to hypercapnia at baseline as well as their reproducibility over time using two anesthetic protocols common for neurovascular research. In summary, the procedures described in this protocol allow us to directly compare retinal and cerebral vascular beds and help to substantiate the role of the retina as a “window to the brain.”https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1116841/fullretinal vessel analysisnon-invasiveblood flow assessmentratneurovascular coupling |
| spellingShingle | Laura Warner Annika Bach-Hagemann Annika Bach-Hagemann Tobias P. Schmidt Sarah Pinkernell Gerrit A. Schubert Gerrit A. Schubert Hans Clusmann Walid Albanna Walid Albanna Ute Lindauer Ute Lindauer Catharina Conzen-Dilger Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience retinal vessel analysis non-invasive blood flow assessment rat neurovascular coupling |
| title | Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| title_full | Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| title_fullStr | Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| title_short | Opening a window to the acutely injured brain: Simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| title_sort | opening a window to the acutely injured brain simultaneous retinal and cerebral vascular monitoring in rats |
| topic | retinal vessel analysis non-invasive blood flow assessment rat neurovascular coupling |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1116841/full |
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