School of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Hsinchuang, New Taipei City, 24205, Taiwan.
Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, 11221, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 25;8(1):15755. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34187-z.
Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for atherosclerosis, which may also be associated with retinal vascular disease, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, and glaucoma. For this study, we established a hyperhomocysteinemia animal model to explore homocysteine (hcy)-related choroidal angiogenesis and possible related factors. We injected Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with different concentrations of hcy and performed color fundus imaging, fluorescein angiography, image-guided optical coherence tomography, and retinal histology to observe the retinal and choroidal changes. Subsequently, we observed prominent choroidal vasculature with congested and tortuous retinal and choroidal vessels in fundus angiographies of the hyperhomocysteinemia animal model. In the histological study, the choroidal capillaries proliferated in the hcy-treated eyes, mimicking choroidal neovascularization. Disrupted retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), abnormal branching vascular network (BVN), and polyp-like structures were also observed in the hcy-treated eyes. Furthermore, we found that placental growth factor (PlGF), but not vascular epithelial growth factor (VEGF), was the key mediating factor of this phenomenon. Our findings suggest that hyperhomocysteinemia might cause choroidal angiogenesis.
高同型半胱氨酸血症是动脉粥样硬化的一个危险因素，也可能与视网膜血管疾病、糖尿病性视网膜病变、视网膜静脉阻塞和青光眼有关。在这项研究中，我们建立了高同型半胱氨酸血症动物模型，以探讨同型半胱氨酸（hcy）相关脉络膜血管生成及其可能的相关因素。我们向 Sprague Dawley（SD）大鼠注射不同浓度的 hcy，并进行眼底彩色成像、荧光素血管造影、图像引导光相干断层扫描和视网膜组织学检查，以观察视网膜和脉络膜的变化。随后，我们在高同型半胱氨酸血症动物模型的眼底血管造影中观察到明显的脉络膜血管，表现为视网膜和脉络膜血管充血和扭曲。在组织学研究中，hcy 处理眼的脉络膜毛细血管增生，类似于脉络膜新生血管形成。还观察到视网膜色素上皮（RPE）破坏、异常分支血管网络（BVN）和息肉样结构。此外，我们发现胎盘生长因子（PlGF）而不是血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是这种现象的关键介导因子。我们的研究结果表明，高同型半胱氨酸血症可能导致脉络膜血管生成。
