Jablonski Monica M, Iannaccone Alessandro, Reynolds Drew H, Gallaher Preston, Allen Shaun, Wang Xiaofei, Reiner Anton
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163, USA.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007 Feb;48(2):479-85. doi: 10.1167/iovs.06-0972.
An age-related decline in macular choroidal blood flow (ChBF) occurs in humans. Vasodilatory nerve fibers containing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) innervate choroidal blood vessels. The current study was conducted to examine the possibility that an age-related loss of these fibers might occur in the submacular choroid in humans, and thus contribute to a decline in ChBF.
Macular choroid punches were collected from 35 healthy human donors ranging from 21 to 93 years of age. Choroidal samples were immunolabeled using anti-VIP and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase
VIP-positive nerve fiber abundance was quantified in up to 12 fields per punch. Fifty macular punches were analyzed, and results for eye pairs were averaged. Choroidal vessel diameter (ChVD) was measured for these same fields. The relationship between age and vessel diameter or VIP-positive fiber abundance was analyzed. Multivariate statistical models were generated correcting for gender, variables related to the tissue specimens, and potential procedural sources of variability.
The fully adjusted multivariate models showed a significant age-related reduction in both the VIP-positive fiber abundance (P = 0.0003, adjusted R(2) = 0.51) and ChVD (P < 0.0001, adjusted R(2) = 0.63), with slopes of -0.45 and -0.19, respectively. Adjusting for the same variables, VIP-positive fiber abundance showed a significant direct correlation with ChVD.
The results indicate a significant age-related decline in VIP-positive nerve fibers and vessel diameter in the submacular choroid in disease-free human donor eyes. These findings suggest that a decline in the neural control of ChBF and vessel diameter may explain the reductions in ChBF and its adaptive control observed clinically with aging.
人类黄斑脉络膜血流(ChBF)会出现与年龄相关的下降。含有血管活性肠肽(VIP)的血管舒张神经纤维支配脉络膜血管。本研究旨在探讨人类黄斑下脉络膜中这些纤维是否会出现与年龄相关的减少,从而导致ChBF下降。
从35名年龄在21至93岁的健康人类供体中采集黄斑脉络膜组织块。脉络膜样本用抗VIP抗体和过氧化物酶-抗过氧化物酶进行免疫标记。
每个组织块在多达12个视野中对VIP阳性神经纤维丰度进行定量。分析了50个黄斑组织块,并对双眼的结果进行平均。对这些相同视野测量脉络膜血管直径(ChVD)。分析年龄与血管直径或VIP阳性纤维丰度之间的关系。生成多变量统计模型,校正性别、与组织标本相关的变量以及潜在的操作变异性来源。
完全调整后的多变量模型显示,VIP阳性纤维丰度(P = 0.0003,调整后R² = 0.51)和ChVD(P < 0.0001,调整后R² = 0.63)均与年龄显著相关,斜率分别为-0.45和-0.19。校正相同变量后,VIP阳性纤维丰度与ChVD呈显著正相关。
结果表明,在无疾病的人类供体眼中,黄斑下脉络膜中VIP阳性神经纤维和血管直径与年龄显著相关。这些发现表明,ChBF和血管直径的神经控制下降可能解释了临床上观察到的随着年龄增长ChBF及其适应性控制的降低。