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The role of oxygen in ocular blood flow regulation
Author(s) -
GARHOFER G
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.3421.x
Subject(s) - blood flow , oxygen tension , perfusion , medicine , vasoconstriction , retina , ophthalmology , oxygenation , diabetic retinopathy , retinal , circulation (fluid dynamics) , oxygen , cardiology , neuroscience , chemistry , endocrinology , biology , mechanics , diabetes mellitus , physics , organic chemistry
The normal function of the retina is crucially dependent on an adequate perfusion and oxygenation of the tissue. Thus, it does not come as a surprise that ocular blood flow is very well autoregulated. It is known for a long time that the retinal circulation, and to some extent also the chorodial circulation can compensate for changes in ocular perfusion pressure in order to keep blood flow constant. This is usually referred to as an autoregulatory response of these vascular beds. However, the ocular circulation also responds to changes in oxygen tension. For example, breathing of pure oxygen leads to a pronounced vasoconstriction of the retinal vessel, indicating that the ocular circulation also adapts to changes in oxygen tension. This talk aims to summarize our current evidence of the role of oxygen in ocular blood flow regulation and how this may relate to ocular pathologies such as glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy.