视网膜是中枢神经系统的一部分。在胚胎起源上,视网膜和大脑均由神经管发育而来。因此,许多发生在大脑的神经退行性疾病往往会同时累及视网膜。而神经退行性疾病过程中相关的特征性病理改变,如病理性蛋白聚集和神经血管单元破坏也常能在视网膜组织中被检测到。在一些神经退行性疾病中,眼部的病理改变甚至在临床症状出现之前就已发生;其次视网膜易于观察且局部治疗操作便捷,因此近年来视网膜在中枢神经退行性疾病发病机制研究、早期诊断和新型治疗方式探究等方面备受关注。该文对常见神经退行性疾病的眼部病理改变进行综述,旨在为大脑和视网膜神经退行疾病的发病机制、诊断以及治疗研究提供新的见解。
The retina is a part of the central nervous system. Developmentally, both retina and brain are derived from the neural tube. Therefore, many neurodegenerative diseases that occur in the brain tend to involve both the retina. In the process of neurodegenerative diseases, related characteristic pathological changes, such as pathological protein aggregation, neurovascular unit impairment can often be detected in retinal tissue. In some neurodegenerative diseases, pathological changes in the eye occur even before clinical symptoms appear. In addition, the retina are easy to observe and local treatments are convenient. In recent years, the manifestations of the retina have attracted much attention in the study of pathogenesis, early diagnosis, and new treatments of systemic central neurodegenerative diseases. In this way, this article reviews the ocular pathological changes of common neurodegenerative diseases, aiming to provide new insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of brain and retinal neurodegenerative diseases.
视网膜微循环与脑小血管具有相似的特征。视网膜被认为是可检测到的“窗口”,以检测在神经退行性疾病中发生的微血管损伤。光学相干断层扫描血管造影(optical coherence tomography angiography,OCTA)是一种非侵入性成像方式,可提供视网膜、脉络膜和视神经中血流的深度分辨图像。现总结有关OCTA在与眼科相关的阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病、多发性硬化症及视神经退行性疾病等神经系统疾病中的应用,并讨论其可否作为早期诊断和监测神经退行性疾病的重要工具。
Retinal microcirculation shares similar features with cerebral small blood vessels. Thus, the retina may be considered as an accessible ‘window’ to detect the microvascular damage occurred during the development and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive imaging modality providing in-depth and high-resolved images of blood flow in the retina, choroid,and optic nerve. In this review, we summarize the current advances in the application of OCT-A in neurological diseases associated with ophthalmology such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and optic nerve degenerative diseases. Future directions for evaluating whether OCTA can be used as an important tool to early diagnose and monitor the neurodegenerative disorders are also discussed.