Retinal thinning of inner sub-layers is associated with cortical atrophy in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease: a longitudinal multimodal in vivo study

Abstract Background It has been claimed that the retina can be used as a window to study brain disorders. However, concerning Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it still remains controversial whether changes occurring in the brain and retina are associated. We aim to understand when changes start appearing in the retina and brain, how changes progress, and if they are correlated. Methods We carried out a unique longitudinal study, at 4, 8, 12, and 16 months of age, in a triple transgenic mouse model of AD (3×Tg-AD), which mimics pathological and neurobehavioral features of AD, as we have already shown. Retinal structure and physiology were evaluated in vivo using optical coherence tomography and electroretinography. Brain visual cortex structure was evaluated in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging. Results The retinal thickness of 3×Tg-AD decreased, at all time points, except for the outer nuclear layer, where the opposite alteration was observed. Amplitudes in scotopic and photopic responses were increased throughout the study. Similarly, higher amplitude and lower phase values were observed in the photopic flicker response. No differences were found in the activity of retinal ganglion cells. Visual cortex gray matter volume was significantly reduced. Conclusions Our results show that this animal model shows similar neural changes in the retina and brain visual cortex, i.e., retinal and brain thinning. Moreover, since similar changes occur in the retina and brain visual cortex, these observations support the possibility of using the eye as an additional tool (noninvasive) for early AD diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring.