Retinal and cortical blood flow dynamics following systemic blood-neural barrier disruption

Abstract

To consider whether imaging retinal vasculature may be used as a marker for cortical vessels, we compared fluorescein angiography flow dynamics before and after pharmacological disruption of blood-neural barriers. Sodium fluorescein (1%, 200 μl/kg) was intravenously delivered in anesthetized adult Long Evans rats (n = 44, brain = 18, retina = 26). In the brain cohort, a cranial window was created to allow direct visualization of surface cortical vessels. Video fluorescein angiography was captured using a rodent retinal camera at 30 frames/second and fluorescence intensity profiles were evaluated for the time to reach 50% brightness (half-rise), 50% decay (half-fall), and the plateau level of..