Early loss of arteriolar smooth muscle cells: more than just a pericyte loss in diabetic retinopathy

vom Hagen, F; Feng, Y; Hillenbrand, A; Hoffmann, S; Shani, M; Deutsch, U; Hammes, HP (2005). Early loss of arteriolar smooth muscle cells: more than just a pericyte loss in diabetic retinopathy. Experimental and clinical endocrinology & diabetes, 113(10), pp. 573-6. Stuttgart: Thieme 10.1055/s-2005-872894

Full text not available from this repository.

Incipient diabetic retinopathy is characterized by increased capillary permeability and progressive capillary occlusion. The earliest structural change is the loss of pericytes (PC) from the retinal capillaries. With the availability of the XLacZ mouse, which expresses the LacZ reporter in a PC/vascular smooth muscle cell (vSMC) specific fashion, we quantitatively assessed the temporal dynamics of smooth muscle cells in arterioles under hyperglycemic conditions. We induced stable hyperglycemia in XLacZ mice. After 4, 8, and 12 weeks of diabetes retinae were isolated and beta-galactosidase/lectin stained. The numbers of smooth muscle cells were counted in retinal whole mounts, and diameters of retinal radial and branching arterioles and venules were analyzed at different distances apart from the center of the retina. After eight weeks of diabetes, the numbers of vSMCs were significantly reduced in radial arterioles 1000 microm distant from the optic disc. At proximal sites of branching arterioles (400 microm distant from the center), and at distal sites (1000 microm), vSMC were significantly reduced already after 4 weeks (to a maximum of 31 %). These changes were not associated with any measurable variation in vessel diameters. These data indicate quantitatively that hyperglycemia not only causes pericyte loss, but also loss of vSMCs in the retinal vasculature. Our data suggest that arteriolar vSMC in the eye underlie similar regulations which induce early pericyte loss in the diabetic retina.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Theodor Kocher Institute
UniBE Contributor:	Deutsch, Urban
ISSN:	0947-7349
ISBN:	16320154
Publisher:	Thieme
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:52
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:16
Publisher DOI:	10.1055/s-2005-872894
PubMed ID:	16320154
Web of Science ID:	000234068800004
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/22211 (FactScience: 32276)