Effects of chronic ocular hypertension on microstructural integrity of the visual system using diffusion tensor MRI

Abstract

Glaucoma is a slow, irreversible neurodegenerative disease of the visual system, whose disease mechanisms are still poorly understood. Using a mouse model of laser-induced chronic ocular hypertension mimicking chronic glaucoma in humans, this study applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study the microstructural integrity spatially along the visual pathways. The results appeared to indicate the involvement of Wallerian-like anterograde degeneration as a candidate of the disease mechanisms of chronic ocular hypertension in the brain, with different progressive rates of neurodegenerative events occurring along the visual pathways.