1. Normal tension glaucoma-like degeneration of the visual system in aged marmosets
- Author
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Kazuhiko Namekata, Nanako Hashimoto, Hironobu Tokuno, Norio Okahara, Chia-Ying Lee, Euido Kim, Keiko Moriya-Ito, Hiroshi Tsuneoka, Tadashi Nakano, Chikako Harada, Atsuko Kimura, Yuriko Azuchi, Xiaoli Guo, Erika Sasaki, Takahiko Noro, Yuji Komaki, Takashi Inoue, and Takayuki Harada
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Aging ,Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,endocrine system ,animal structures ,genetic structures ,Optic Disk ,Glaucoma ,lcsh:Medicine ,Article ,Retina ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,biology.animal ,Normal tension glaucoma ,medicine ,Animals ,Receptor, trkB ,Primate ,Low Tension Glaucoma ,lcsh:Science ,Visual Cortex ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,business.industry ,Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ,lcsh:R ,Marmoset ,Callithrix ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Retinal diseases ,eye diseases ,Experimental models of disease ,body regions ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Visual cortex ,Optic nerve ,Female ,lcsh:Q ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a non-human primate that provides valuable models for neuroscience and aging research due to its anatomical similarities to humans and relatively short lifespan. This study was carried out to examine whether aged marmosets develop glaucoma, as seen in humans. We found that 11% of the aged marmosets presented with glaucoma-like characteristics; this incident rate is very similar to that in humans. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a significant volume loss in the visual cortex, and histological analyses confirmed the degeneration of the lateral geniculate nuclei and visual cortex in the affected marmosets. These marmosets did not have elevated intraocular pressure, but showed an increased oxidative stress level, low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure, and low brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and TrkB expression in the retina, optic nerve head and CSF. Our findings suggest that marmosets have potential to provide useful information for the research of eye and the visual system.
- Published
- 2019