Early inner retinal astrocyte dysfunction during diabetes and development of hypoxia, retinal stress,and neuronal functional loss

Abstract

PURPOSE. Neuronal and glial alterations precede the overt vascular change that characterizes diabetic retinopathy. Because retinal astrocytes modulate neuronal and vascular function, this study investigated the time course of astrocyte, Müller cell, and neuronal change during diabetes to determine whether astrocytes may play an early role in diabetic retinopathy. METHODS. Sprague-Dawley rats were rendered diabetic via streptozotocin and neuronal and glial changes were assessed after 2-10 weeks. Astrocyte change was investigated using connexin-26 immunolabeling, whereas connexin-26 and -43 gene expressions were quantified using real-time PCR. Hypoxia was measured by pimonidazole labeling and ..