Carbon monoxide treatment reduces microglial activation in the ischemic rat retina.

Purpose Ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury damages retinal neurons. Retinal injury is accompanied by activation of microglia, which scavenge the dead or dying neurons, but increasing evidence now indicates that amoeboid-shaped microglia cells activated in the brain after ischemia have neurotoxic and damaging properties in their own right. A previous study showed that postconditioning with carbon monoxide (CO) protects retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after I/R through anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. The present study was designed to investigate and quantify the activation of retinal microglia after I/R with and without CO postconditioning.