Retinal ischemia is a condition associated with retinal degenerative diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and other optic neuropathies, leading to visual impairment and blindness worldwide. Currently, there is no therapy available for ischemic retinopathies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test a murine model of pterygopalatine artery ligation-induced retinal injury for transplantation of mouse bone marrow-derived lineage-negative (lin-ve) stem cells. The mouse external carotid artery and pterygopalatine artery were ligated for 3.5 h followed by reperfusion. The model was validated through fundus fluorescein angiography, laser Doppler and FITC dextran perfusion in whole-mounts. Lin-ve stem cells isolated from mouse bone marrow were transplanted through tail-vein, which showed migration to retina leading to decrease in GFAP expression. The neurotrophic factors such as BDNF and FGF2 showed enhanced expression in the retina. The functional analysis with electroretinogram did not demonstrate any significant changes before or after injury or stem cell transplantation. This study shows a neuroprotective potential in lin-ve stem cells in the retinal ischemia induced by pterygopalatine artery ligation and presents a practical model for validating therapies for ischemic disorders of the retina in future.
Keywords: BDNF; External carotid artery; GFAP; Neurotrophic factors; Pterygopalatine artery; Retinal ischemia; Stem cells.