Early Detection of Functional Changes in an Intraocular Hypertension
Rabbit Model Treated with Human Wharton Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells
(hWJ-MSCs) Using Chromatic Pupillometry
Karine dos Santos Evangelho1, Carlos Cifuentes-González2,
William Rojas-Carabali2, Clemencia De Vivero-Arciniegas3,
Carlos Téllez-Conti3, Mariana Cañas-Arboleda4,
Gustavo Salguero4, Carolina Ramírez-Santana5
and Alejandra de-la-Torre2*
1Doctoral
Program Biomedical and Biological Sciences, School of Medicine and
Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, 11121, Bogotá, Colombia
2Neuroscience
(NEUROS) Research Group, Neurovitae Center for Neuroscience,
Institute of Translational Medicine (IMT), Escuela de Medicina y
Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
3Escuela
Superior de Oftalmologíadel Instituto Barraquer de
América, 11121, Bogotá, Colombia
4Advanced Therapies Unit, Instituto Distrital de
Ciencia Biotecnología e Innovación en Salud—IDCBIS, 111611 Bogotá,
Colombia
5Center
for Autoimmune Diseases Research (CREA), Institute of Translational
Medicine (IMT), School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad
del Rosario, Bogotá, 11121, Colombia
*Corresponding author:
alejadelatorre@yahoo.com
Abstract
The present study was designedto evaluate the
use of a chromatic pupillometry test for the early detection of functional
impairment in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) in an
experimental glucocorticoid model of ocular hypertension (OH) treated with
intravitreal injection of human Wharton’s jelly derived
mesenchymal stromal cells (hWJ-MSCs). For this purpose, fifteen
New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned to three groups: OH (G1), hWJ-MSCs
(G2), and OH + hWJ-MSCs (G3). The chromatic pupillary light reflex (cPLR) was
assessed after dark adaptation to high-illuminance red and blue light stimuli.
Response to blue light was used as a marker of ipRGC activity. Amplitude and
latency were evaluated using flash-visual evoked potentials (VEP). Intraocular
pressure (IOP) (mmHg) was monitored over time. The results indicated a significant
increase (P<0.001) in the IOP by third week.
Pupil diameter (mm) for blue light significantly increased (P<0.05) in all
groups compared to the control eyes. However, the pupillary diameter in G3
tended to remain constant. Red light elicited significant differences in the
responses in G1 (P=0.025) and G2 (P=0.007). Moreover, we found no correlation
between the parameters of blue light intensity and flash-VEP (P>0.05). A
non-significant increase in the latency of G2 (P=0.437) and G3 (P=0.779), and a
slight increase in the amplitude of G3 were observed (P=0.268).
The changes generated by the OH can be recognized early through quantitative
measurements of the pupillary function. We found that intravitreal injection of
human hWJ-MSCs appears to influence ipRGC activity, detectable early through
cPLR in eyes with OH. In summary, our study indicates that intravitreal
injection of human hWJ-MSCs appears to influence ipRGC activity facilitating the
early detection capabilities for ocular hypertension-related changes through
cPLR in eyes with OH.
To Cite This Article:
Evangelho KDS, Cifuentes-González C, Rojas-Carabali W, Vivero-Arciniegas
CD, Téllez-Conti C, Cañas-Arboleda M,
Salguero G, Ramírez-Santana C and de-la-Torre A, 2023. Early detection of functional changes in an
intraocular hypertension rabbit model treated with human wharton jelly
mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) using chromatic pupillometry. Pak Vet J, 44(1): 29-37.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2024.132