Pathological evaluation of diabetic retinopathy in mice using high-field MRI
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries. The breakdown of the blood retinal barrier (BRB) associated with an increased permeability of the retina leads to macular edema which cause vision impairment. In this study the BRB breakdown in two different mouse models is investigated with dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) at high magnetic field strength. Our hypothesis is that high resolution static and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI acquired at a high field strength (14.1 tesla) will allow elucidation about the time progression of disruption of the blood retinal barrier (BRB), either induced via VEGF injection or by using a transgenic mouse model of diabetes. In the first model a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) will be used to initiate the BRB breakdown. An angiogram of the mouse eye, the signal changes in retinal layers and the vitreous body will be studied. Both spatial and temporal changes will be monitored with a very high resolution allowing for a more detailed analysis of the process described before in larger animal models. The progress of diabetic retinopathy in C57BL/6J Ins2Akita mice and the associated BRB breakdown will be studied in the second mouse model using the same techniques. The outcome of this study will enable future studies to investigate treatment options of diabetic retinopathy in living mice.

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