The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on January 30, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(3):325-331; doi:10.1093/gerona/gln052
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Normal Aging Involves Modulation of Specific Inflammatory Markers in the Rat Retina and Choroid
1 Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis
2 Department of Physiology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale
Address correspondence to Jena J. Steinle, PhD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Ophthalmology, 930 Madison Ave, Suite 722A, Memphis, TN 38163. Email: jsteinl1{at}utmem.edu
| Abstract |
|---|
Recent work has suggested that inflammation is a common component of a number of age-related diseases. The hypothesis of the present study was that normal aging of the retina and choroid would increase levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
). To investigate this hypothesis, gene expression and protein analyses were completed on retinal and choroidal samples from Fischer 344 x Brown Norway F1 hybrid rats at 8, 22, and 32 months of age. Aging of the choroid produced significant increases in PGE2, with decreased TNF-
protein. Protein levels and messenger RNA of iNOS and TNF-
protein levels were significantly decreased in the aging retina in contrast to PGE2 protein activity, which was increased with age in the retina. These results suggest that PGE2 is likely involved in the aging process in both the retina and choroid, whereas iNOS plays a role predominantly in the retina.
Keywords ; Inflammatory markers; Retina; Choroid; Aging
Received: July 14, 2008; Accepted: September 17, 2008