Brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor, dynamic retinal vessel responses during flicker light and stroke risk: the SABPA study
Date
2019Author
Wentzel, Annemarie
Malan, Leoné
Von Känel, Roland
Smith, Wayne
Malan, Nicolaas
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Assessment of the retinal vessels’ structure and
function provides an automated and objective approach to noninvasively assess the condition of the cerebral microvasculature
and indicates susceptibility for stroke. Neurons, glial cells and the
cerebral endothelium exhibit a unique relationship as they function as a cohesive unit namely, neurovascular coupling, similar to
that of the retinal microvasculature. Brain-derived neurotrophic
factor (BDNF) plays an essential role in the survival, growth and
maintenance of neural structures. BDNF is actively released by cerebral endothelial cells, constituting a link between maintaining
cerebral and possibly retinal blood flow as well as effective neurovascular coupling