The microvascular system of the optic nerve in control and enucleated rats

The microvascular system of the optic nerve of the rat was examined morphometrically to determine the effect of enucleation of one eye at birth on the microvascular development in the contralateral optic nerve. For this purpose, two groups of rats were used: three were unilaterally enucleated on the day of birth and studied on postnatal Day 28; three littermates were used as controls. Using plastic embedded semithin sections, we analyzed various parameters and compared the results statistically. The average diameter of microvessels up to 7.5 microns was found to be 4.7 +/- 0.2 micron in controls and 5.3 +/- 0.5 micron in experimental rats. The density of microvessels expressed as the mean number of sectioned capillaries per tissue area was 137 +/- 25/mm2 in the control group and 169 +/- 32/mm2 in the experimental group. The intravascular volume fraction percentage (Vv), which represents the volume fraction of the capillary network per unit of optic nerve volume (mm3/mm3%), was 0.06% in the controls and 0.10% in the enucleated rats. Total length of capillaries per unit of volume (Lv) averaged 1050 +/- 112 and 2235 +/- 195 mm/mm3 in control and experimental groups, respectively. The internal capillary surface area available for metabolic exchange expressed per volume unit (Sv) was 15.5 +/- 2.1 and 37.2 +/- 2.8 mm2/mm3 in control and experimental groups, respectively. These results, together with the lack of ultrastructural modifications in the vascular walls of microvessels, suggest that these rearrangements of the capillary system in the enucleated group could be triggered by an increase in the optic nerve metabolism resulting from monocular vision.