@article {1666, title = {Sex Does Not Influence Visual Outcomes After Blast-Mediated Traumatic Brain Injury but IL-1 Pathway Mutations Confer Partial Rescue.}, journal = {Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci}, volume = {61}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Oct 01}, pages = {7}, abstract = {

Purpose: In a mouse model of blast-mediated traumatic brain injury (bTBI), interleukin-1 (IL-1)-pathway components were tested as potential therapeutic targets for bTBI-mediated retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dysfunction. Sex was also evaluated as a variable for RGC outcomes post-bTBI.

Methods: Male and female mice with null mutations in genes encoding IL-1α, IL-1β, or IL-1RI were compared to C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice after exposure to three 20-psi blast waves given at an interblast interval of 1 hour or to mice receiving sham injury. To determine if genetic blockade of IL-1α, IL-1β, or IL-1RI could prevent damage to RGCs, the function and structure of these cells were evaluated by pattern electroretinogram and optical coherence tomography, respectively, 5 weeks following blast or sham exposure. RGC survival was also quantitatively assessed via immunohistochemical staining of BRN3A at the completion of the study.

Results: Our results showed that male and female WT mice had a similar response to blast-induced retinal injury. Generally, constitutive deletion of IL-1α, IL-1β, or IL-1RI did not provide full protection from the effects of bTBI on visual outcomes; however, injured WT mice had significantly worse visual outcomes compared to the injured genetic knockout mice.

Conclusions: Sex does not affect RGC outcomes after bTBI. The genetic studies suggest that deletion of these IL-1 pathway components confers some protection, but global deletion from birth did not result in a complete rescue.

}, issn = {1552-5783}, doi = {10.1167/iovs.61.12.7}, author = {Evans, Lucy P and Boehme, Nickolas and Wu, Shu and Burghardt, Elliot L and Akurathi, Abhigna and Todd, Brittany P and Newell, Elizabeth A and Ferguson, Polly J and Mahajan, Vinit B and Dutca, Laura M and Harper, Matthew M and Bassuk, Alexander G} }