PHOTORECEPTOR DAMAGE INDUCED BY LOW INTENSITY LIGHT: MODEL OF RETINAL DEGENERATION IN MAMMALS

CONTIN, MARIA ANA; ARIETTI, MARIA DE LOS MILAGROS; BENEDETTO, MARIA MERCEDES; BUSSI, CLAUDIO ; GUIDO, MARIO EDUARDO

MOLECULAR VISION

Año: 2013 p. 1614 - 1614

URPOSE: Retinal degeneration caused by a defect in the phototransduction cascade leads to the apoptosis of photoreceptor cells, although the precise molecular mechanism is still unknown. In addition, constant low light exposure produces photoreceptor cell death through the activation of downstream phototransduction. The authors investigated the time course and molecular mechanisms of death and the rhodopsin phosphorylation occurring during retinal degeneration after exposure to continuous low intensity light. METHODS: Wistar rats were exposed to constant cool white 200-lux intensity fluorescent light (LL) for 1 to 10 days and compared with animals kept in the dark (DD) or controls exposed to a regular 12:12 h (LD) cycle. One eye from each rat was used for histological and quantitative outer nuclear layer (ONL) analysis and the other for biochemical assays. RESULTS: The histological analysis showed a significant reduction in the ONL of LL-exposed rats after seven days compared with