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Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness. Histology, blood-retinal barrier breakdown assay, and fluorescence angiography are valuable techniques to understand the pathophysiology of the retina, which could further enhance the efficient drug screening against diabetic retinopathy.
A posterior segment eye disease like diabetic retinopathy alters the physiology of the retina. Diabetic retinopathy is characterized by a retinal detachment, breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), and retinal angiogenesis. An in vivo rat model is a valuable experimental tool to examine the changes in the structure and function of the retina. We propose three different experimental techniques in the rat model to identify morphological changes of retinal cells, retinal vasculature, and compromised BRB. Retinal histology is used to study the morphology of various retinal cells. Also, quantitative measurement is performed by retinal cell count and thickness measurement of different retinal layers. A BRB breakdown assay is used to determine the leakage of extraocular proteins from the plasma to vitreous tissue due to the breakdown of BRB. Fluorescence angiography is used to study angiogenesis and leakage of blood vessels by visualizing retinal vasculature using FITC-dextran dye.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most complex secondary complications of diabetes mellitus. It is also the leading cause of preventable blindness in the working-age population worldwide. In a recent meta-analysis of 32.4 million blind people, 830,000 (2.6%) people were blind due to DR1. The proportion of vision loss attributed to diabetes ranked seventh in 2015 at 1.06% (0.15-2.38) globally2,3.
Diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed by vascular abnormalities in the posterior ocular tissues. Clinically, it is divided into two stages - Non-Proliferative DR (N....
This protocol follows all the animal care guidelines provided by Institutional Animal Ethics Committee, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad campus.
1. Retinal histology
Retinal histology
In the diabetic retina, retinal cells undergo degeneration. In addition, the thickness of the retinal layers increase due to edema22. The images obtained after Hematoxylin and Eosin staining can be used for cell count and measurement of the thickness of different layers, as shown in Figure 2 using ImageJ.
Blood-retinal barrier breakdown assay
As the BRB is compromised in diabet.......
Histology
Retinal histology is performed to visualize the morphological changes of retinal cells and layers. Various steps, including choice of fixative solution, fixation duration, dehydration, and paraffin impregnation, need to be optimized. The tissue size should not exceed 3 mm, as the fixative penetration becomes slow. The commonly used 4% paraformaldehyde leads to retinal detachment even in the healthy eye due to the relatively high osmolarity of the solution compared to aqueous humor and vit.......
Authors would like to acknowledge Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR; ITR-2020-2882) for funding support to Dr. Nirmal J. We would also like to thank University Grant of Commission for providing Junior Research Fellowship to Manisha Malani and Central Analytical Laboratory Facility, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad campus for providing infrastructural facility.
....Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Histology | |||
Reagents | |||
Isoflurane | Abbott | Anesthesia agent | |
Ketamine hydrochloride | Troikaa Pharmaceuticals | Anesthesia agent | |
Xylazine | Indian Immunologicals Limited | Anesthesia agent | |
Pentobarbital sodium | Zora Pharma | Euthanesia agent | |
Fixative solution (1 % formaldehyde, 1.25 % Glutaraldehyde | HiMedia, Avra | MB059, ASG2529 | Prepared in-house |
Ethanol | Hayman | F204325 | Dehydration |
Xylene | HiMedia | MB-180 | Clearing of ethanol or paraffin |
Paraffin wax | HiMedia | GRM10702 | used for embedding tissue |
Glycerol | HiMedia | TC503 | To prepare albumin coated slides. Glycerol and egg albumin is mixed in 1:1 ratio to coat on slides |
Hydrochloric acid | Sisco Research laboratories Pvt. Ltd. | 65955 | For preparation of 1 % acid alcohol |
Acetic acid | HiMedia | AS119 | For preparation of eosin |
Scotts water | Leica | 3802900 | Bluing reagent |
Papanicolaou's solution 1b Hematoxylin solution | Sigma | 1.09254.0500 | Staining of nuclei |
Eosin | HiMedia | GRM115 | Staining of cytoplasm, 0.25 % solution was prepared in-house |
DPX Mountant media | Sigma | 6522 | Visualization and protection of retinal sections |
Equipments | |||
Glassware | Borosil | ||
Corneal forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1200 | Dissection |
Colibri forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1135 | Dissection |
Curved micro scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1311 | Dissection |
Vannas scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1387 | Dissection |
Iris scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1015 | Dissection |
Cassettes | HiMedia | PW1292 | To hold tissue during histology processing |
Water bath | GT Sonic | GT Sonic-D9 | Temperature maintenance |
Paraffin embedding station | Myr | EC 350 | Preparation of paraffin blocks |
Microtome | Zhengzhou Nanbei Instrument Equipment Co., Ltd. | YD-335A | Sectioning |
Blades | Leica | Leica 818 | Sectioning |
Slides | HiMedia | BG005 | Holding paraffin-tissue sections |
Coverslips | HiMedia | BG014C | To cover tissue after adding mounting media |
Blood Retinal Barrier breakdown | |||
Reagents | |||
Isoflurane | Abbott | B506 | Anesthesia |
Dry ice | Not applicable | Not applicable | Dissection |
Bradford reagent | Sigma | B6916 | Protein quantification |
Equipments | |||
Corneal forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1200 | Dissection |
Colibri forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1135 | Dissection |
Curved micro scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1311 | Dissection |
Vannas scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1387 | Dissection |
Iris scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1015 | Dissection |
Glassware | Borosil | Not applicable | |
EDTA coated tubes | J.K Diagnostics | Not applicable | Separate plasma from whole blood |
Homogenization tubes | MP Biomedicals | SKU: 115076200-CF | Homogenization of vitreous |
Homogenization caps | MP Biomedicals | SKU: 115063002-CF | Homogenization of vitreous |
Glass beads | MP Biomedicals | SKU: 116914801 | Homogenization of vitreous |
Homogeniser | Bertin Instruments | P000673-MLYS0-A | Homogenization of vitreous |
96-well plate - Transparent | Grenier | GN655101 | Protein quantification |
Plate reader | Molecular devices | SpectrMax M4 | Absorbance measurement |
Centrifuge | REMI | CPR240 Plus | Centrifugation |
Fluorescence Angiography | |||
Reagents | |||
Isoflurane | Abbott | B506 | Anesthesia |
FITC-dextran 70 kD (FITC, Dextran, Dibutylin dilaurate, DMSO | FITC, Dextran and Dibutylin dilaurate from Sigma; DMSO from HiMedia | FITC-F3651,Dextran-31390,Dibutylin dilaurate -29123, DMSO-TC185 | Prepared in-house |
Fluoroshied | Sigma | F6182 | Anti-fading mounting medium |
Equipments | |||
Corneal forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1200 | Dissection |
Colibri forcep | Stephens Instruments | S5-1135 | Dissection |
Curved micro scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1311 | Dissection |
Vannas scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1387 | Dissection |
Iris scissor | Stephens Instruments | S7-1015 | Dissection |
Glassware | Borosil | Not applicable | |
Slides | HiMedia | BG005 | Flatmount preparation |
Coverslips | HiMedia | BG014C | To cover tissue after adding mounting media |
Confocal microscope | Leica | DMi8 | Visualization of flatmount |
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