Objective To investingate the ultrastructural changes of retinal pigment epithelium(RPE) and its permeability in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR)and explore the relation between these changes and hypertensive retinopathy.MethodsThe ultrastructure of RPE cells in the SHR aged five,six,seven months wasobserved with transmission electronmicroscope and compared to its normotensive control strain(WKY) with the same age.Then,lanthanum tracer procedures were carried out to investigate pathological changes of the blood-retinal barrier.Results (1)In SHR the main pathological changes involved swelling of mitochondria,enlargement of endoplasmic reticula,decrease of RPE cell infolding,and sparseness of microvilli.These degenerations were more serious in older rats with higher blood pressure.(2)The breakdown of outer blood-retinal barrier with permeation of lanthanum tracers were evident in SHR aged six or seven month,however,in WKY and five-month SHR the traces were prevented from passing by tight junctions.ConclusionThe degeneration of RPE owing to ischemia and anoxia arises in early periosd of hypertensive retinopathy.The pathological changes of ultrastructure and permeability might interact with the damage of visual cells and play a main role in the hypertensive retinopathy.
Porpose To investigate the optimal concentration of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on DNA synthesis and their synergism indensity arrested human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Methods Growth factor effects in cultured human RPE of the 6th generation were assessed by [3 H]-thymidine incorporation and radioautography. Results EGF and bFGF were potent stimulators when used alone,and their optimal concentrations were 10ng/ml in DMEM and 1ng/ml in 2% serum DMEM.When used in combination (10ng/ml EGF and 10ng/ml bFGF),they caused a significant enhancement of [3 H]-thymidine incorporation about 2.96 times. Conclusion EGF and bFGF were potent stimulators in RPE cells,and demonstrated synergism in their action. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,1998,14:98-100)
Objective To examine the influence of retinal pigment epithelium(RPE) cells on antigen-specific activatedlymphocytes in vitro,and to explore the role of RPE cells in the immune privilege of the eye. Methods Co-culture systems of RPE cells with antigen-specific T lymphocyte lines and resting T lymphocytes were established in vitro．Induction of apoptosis was detected by genomic DNA electrophoresis,DNA in situ end-labelling and flow cytometry. Results RPE cells induced apoptosis in antigen-specific activated T lymphocytes. 24 hours after culture,the signs of apoptosis appeared in lymphocytes co-incubated with RPE cells．As time of co-culture went on,the number of apoptosic cells increased．Quantitative analysis of apoptosic cells showed that apoptosic cells accounted for 5.95% after 24 hours, 9.38% after 48 hours,and 17.95% after 72 hours．In contrast,RPE cells induced few apoptosis in resting T lymphocytes. Conclusions These results suggest that RPE cells possess the ability to induce the apoptosis of invading lymphocytes. This phenomenon serves as a restrain mechanism of immune response and may be of vital importance in the maintenance of immune privilege in posterior segment of eye and in the protection of eye from the damage of immunogenic inflammation. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 1999, 15: 241-244)