Abstract
Purpose: To assess ultrastructural choroidal, retinal and optic nerve changes in a 45-day rat model of chronic alcohol intoxication (CAI).
Material and Methods: Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the ultrastructural choroidal, retinal and optic nerve changes in a 45-day rat model of CAI which was induced in group 1, the examination group of animals, by daily intraperitoneal injections of 25% ethanol at a dose of 1.5% of the body weight (4.0 g of 96% ethanol/kg/day). Group 2, the control group, received a 45-day course of injection water intraperitoneally in the same volume as ethanol.
Results: CAI was found to cause complex lesions in all examined ocular tissues. The choroid was edematous and exhibited microvascular endothelial destruction, the absence of fenestrations and basal membrane thickening in endothelial cells. In the retina, photoreceptor cells were the most vulnerable, exhibiting vesiculation of the membranes of outer segment discs, cell fragmentation and destruction. The optic nerve exhibited glial cell destruction, nerve fiber demyelination, myelin sheath splitting, and destroyed neurofilaments and neurotubules in the axoplasm.
Conclusion: In rats, CAI causes systemic alcohol-induced ocular posterior segment lesions which are driven by impaired microcirculation and membrane-destructive processes.