Ultrastructural and permeability characteristics of retinal vessels in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

The ultrastructure and permeability of retinal arterioles, venules, and capillaries located near the optic disc of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats were studied using electron microscopy and tracer cytochemistry. A variety of structural changes were observed in arterioles of SHRSP. They include (1) narrowing of the lumen due to smooth muscle hyperplasia and/or fragmentation and thickening of the basal lamina, (2) fusiform aneurysms containing degenerated smooth muscle cells and reduplicated basal lamina, and (3) the presence of microfilament bundles under the luminal surface of the endothelium. In addition, the wall of venules was thickened due to accumulation of basal lamina material. Many capillary pericytes were also degenerated. Retinal vessels of age-matched normotensive rats did not show such changes. In SHRSP, after injection of peroxidase, extravasation of tracer was seen occasionally in retinal capillaries and in the central retinal vein at the optic nerve head. No changes in vascular permeability were observed in the normotensive rats.