Adaptations to hypoxia in the vertebrate retina.

ABSTRACT: As part of the CNS, the retina maintains high metabolic activity yet is more tolerant to the adverse effects of low oxygen (hypoxia) than the brain. Tissue hypoxia is a component of ischaemia and has devastating effects on the CNS, including neuronal death. Differences in blood supply, oxygen consumption, and the expression of excitatory receptors and oxygen-binding proteins contribute to regional differences in the sensitivity of retinal neurons to hypoxia. Although highly variable and species-dependent, the mammalian retina has the capacity to withstand the effects of oxygen deprivation through ischaemic preconditioning, where a brief, sublethal stimulus imparts protection against subsequent bouts of hypoxia or ischaemia. Decades of research have demonstrated that hypoxia- and anoxia-tol

SUBMITTER: Jonz MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12576311 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature