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Updated: Aug 18, 2026
A Mouse Model of Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Through Elevation of Intraocular Pressure
Published on: July 14, 2016
A short duration transient ischemia induces apoptosis in retinal layers: an experimental study in rabbits
1Department of Ophthalmology, Mersin University, School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey. ozayoz@mersin.edu.tr
Purpose:
To investigate retinal cell apoptosis in an experimental transient, short duration ocular ischemia model.
Methods:
An experimental ischemia model, which simulates creating temporary high intraocular pressure to control intraocular bleeding during pars plana vitrectomy, was set up. Rabbits were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 was the control group. In Group 2, intraocular pressure was increased to 97 mmHg for 5 minutes. In Group 3, intraocular pressure was increased to 97 mmHg for 10 minutes. After 24 hours, terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick-end labeling assay was used to detect retinal apoptosis in rabbit eyes. Only nuclear staining in retinal cells was counted.
Results:
Groups with 5 minutes and 10 minutes of ischemia showed significantly higher amount of ganglion cell layer apoptosis when compared with the control group (p<0.05). Light microscopy and standard hematoxylin-eosin did not show any significant damage in the retina cells.
Conclusions:
Apoptotic cell death in the retinal cell layers occurs in temporary ischemia-reperfusion as early as 5 and 10 minutes duration.
