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Lamina Cribrosa Microstructure in Nonhuman Primates With Naturally Occurring Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thinning
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Lamina Cribrosa Microstructure in Nonhuman Primates With Naturally Occurring Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thinning

Palaiologos Alexopoulos, Arthur G Fernandes, Zeinab Ghassabi, Ronald Zambrano, Anse Vellappally, Eitan Shemuelian, TingFang Lee, Jiyuan Hu, Armando Burgos-Rodriguez, Melween I Martinez, …
Translational vision science & technology, v 13(9), 23
19 Sep 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.13.9.23
PMID: 39297808
url
https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.13.9.23View
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Abstract

Animals Disease Models, Animal Female Glaucoma - diagnostic imaging Glaucoma - pathology Imaging, Three-Dimensional Intraocular Pressure - physiology Macaca mulatta Male Nerve Fibers - pathology Optic Disk - diagnostic imaging Optic Disk - pathology Optic Nerve Diseases - diagnostic imaging Optic Nerve Diseases - pathology Retinal Ganglion Cells - pathology Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods
The lamina cribrosa (LC) is hypothesized to be the site of initial axonal damage in glaucoma with the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL-T) widely used as a standard metric for quantifying the glaucomatous damage. The purpose of this study was to determine in vivo, 3-dimensional (3D) differences in the microstructure of the LC in eyes of nonhuman primates (NHPs) with naturally occurring glaucoma. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans (Leica, Chicago, IL, USA) of the optic nerve head were acquired from a colony of 50 adult rhesus monkeys suspected of having high prevalence of glaucoma. The RNFL-T was analyzed globally and in quadrants using a semi-automated segmentation software. From a set of 100 eyes, 18 eyes with the thinnest global RNFL-T were selected as the study group and 18 eyes with RNFL-T values around the 50th percentile were used as controls. A previously described automated segmentation algorithm was used for LC microstructure analysis. Parameters included beam thickness, pore diameter and their ratio (beam-to-pore ratio [BPR]), pore area and shape parameters, beam and pore volume, and connective tissue volume fraction (CTVF; beam volume/total volume). The LC microstructure was analyzed globally and in the following volumetric sectors: quadrants, central and peripheral lamina, and three depth slabs (anterior, middle, and posterior). Although no significant difference was detected between groups for age, weight, or disc size, the study group had significantly thinner RNFL than the control group (P < 0.01). The study group had significantly smaller global and sectoral pore diameter and larger BPR compared with the control group. Across eyes, the global RNFL-T was associated positively with pore diameter globally. BPR and CTVF were significantly and negatively associated with the corresponding RNFL-T in the superior quadrant. Global and sectoral microstructural differences were detected when comparing thin and normal RNFL-T eyes. Whether these LC differences are the cause of RNFL damage or the result of remodeling of the LC requires further investigation. Our findings indicate structural alterations in the LC of NHP exhibiting natural thinning of the RNFL, a common characteristic of glaucomatous damage.

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