Effect of flicker-induced retinal stimulation of mice revealed by full-field electroretinography

PurposeTo investigate the effects of brief flickering light stimulation (FLS) on retinal electrophysiology and its blood flow in normal C57BL6J mice. MethodsRetinal blood flow (RBF) and full-field electroretinography (ffERG) were measured before and after a 60-second long FLS (12 Hz, 0.1 cd{middle dot}s/m2) in a cohort of 8-12 weeks old C57BL6J mice (n=10) under anaesthetic and light-adapted conditions. A separate set of age-matched mice (n=9) underwent RBF and ffERG measurements before and after steady light stimulation (SLS) at 1 cd/m2 under similar conditions. The changes in RBF (arterial and venous flow) and ffERG responses (amplitudes and implicit times of a- and b-wave) were analyzed. ResultsFLS significantly increased both arterial (p=0.003) and venous (p=0.018) blood flow as well as b-wave amplitudes (p=0.017) compared to SLS, which did not have any significant changes in both RBF and ERG. However, no significant differences were found in other ffERG responses (amplitude and implicit time of a-wave and b-wave implicit time) between the two groups after light stimulation. An increase in b-wave amplitude was positively associated with increase in both arterial (r=0.655, p=0.040) and venous blood flow (r=0.638, p=0.047) in the FLS group. ConclusionsTransient FLS induced a significant increase in both RBF and electro-retinal activity, but such increase was not observed after SLS. Our results suggest the role of FLS, which exerts metabolic stress on the retina, in triggering retinal neurovascular coupling.