Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
-
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Jun 2019
Blast-Mediated Traumatic Brain Injury Exacerbates Retinal Damage and Amyloidosis in the APPswePSENd19e Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for developing chronic neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study was to examine chronic effects of blast TBI on retinal ganglion cells (RGC), optic nerve, and brain amyloid load in a mouse model of AD amyloidosis. ⋯ When combined with a genetic susceptibility for developing amyloidosis of AD, blast TBI exposure leads to earlier RGC and optic nerve damage associated with modest but detectable increase in cerebral cortical Aβ pathology. These findings suggest that genetic risk factors for AD may increase the sensitivity of the retina to blast-mediated damage.