Involvement of Adenosine in Retinal Ischemia

Methods. Ischemia-reperfusion injury to the rat retina was induced by raising the intraocular pressure above the systolic blood pressure for 45 minutes, followed by reperfusion for 3 days. This insult caused a reduction of the b-wave of the electroretinogram (54% ± 5%, n = 23) relative to the contralateral control retina, an expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the Muller cells, and an alteration in the "staining" pattern of the calretinin immunoreactivity. The normal two to three bands of calretinin immunoreactivity in the inner plexiform layer appeared as a single band. Elevation of the intraocular pressure for 60 minutes, followed by reperfusion of 2 weeks, caused a 40% reduction in the thickness of the inner nuclear and plexiform layers. No statistically significant changes in the other retinal layers were recorded.