PTE-MTA Lendulet PACAP Research Team, Department of Anatomy, University of Pecs, Pécs 7624, Hungary.
Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Aug 5;14(8):16111-23. doi: 10.3390/ijms140816111.
Exposure to an enriched environment has been shown to have many positive effects on brain structure and function. Numerous studies have proven that enriched environment can reduce the lesion induced by toxic and traumatic injuries. Impoverished environment, on the other hand, can have deleterious effects on the outcome of neuronal injuries. We have previously shown that enriched conditions have protective effects in retinal injury in newborn rats. It is well-known that the efficacy of neuroprotective strategies can depend on age and gender. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to examine the effects of environmental enrichment and social isolation in retinal ischemia. We used bilateral common carotid artery occlusion to induce retinal hypoperfusion in adult Wistar rats of both genders. Groups were housed in standard, enriched or impoverished conditions. Impoverished environment was induced by social isolation. Retinas were processed for histological analysis after two weeks of survival. In the present study, we show that (1) enriched environment has protective effects in adult ischemic retinal lesion, while (2) impoverished environment further increases the degree of ischemic injury, and (3) that these environmental effects are gender-dependent: females are less responsive to the positive effects of environmental enrichment and more vulnerable to retinal ischemia in social isolation. In summary, our present study shows that the effects of both positive and negative environmental stimuli are gender-dependent in ischemic retinal lesions.
暴露于丰富环境已被证明对大脑结构和功能有许多积极影响。许多研究已经证明，丰富的环境可以减少有毒和创伤性损伤引起的病变。而贫乏的环境会对神经元损伤的结果产生有害影响。我们之前已经表明，丰富的环境对新生大鼠视网膜损伤有保护作用。众所周知，神经保护策略的效果可能取决于年龄和性别。因此，本研究的目的是研究环境丰富和社会隔离对视网膜缺血的影响。我们使用双侧颈总动脉闭塞来诱导成年 Wistar 大鼠的视网膜低灌注，无论性别。各组分别饲养在标准、丰富或贫乏的环境中。贫乏的环境是通过社会隔离来诱导的。在两周的存活后，对视网膜进行组织学分析。在本研究中，我们表明：（1）丰富的环境对成年缺血性视网膜病变有保护作用，而（2）贫乏的环境进一步增加了缺血性损伤的程度，并且（3）这些环境影响是性别依赖性的：女性对环境丰富的积极影响反应较差，在社会隔离中对视网膜缺血更为敏感。总之，我们目前的研究表明，在缺血性视网膜病变中，积极和消极环境刺激的影响都是性别依赖性的。
