Lipid peroxidation and retinal injury in stress

Emotional-painful stress (EPS) regularly leads to generalized activation of lipid peroxidation (LPO), and this is expressed as accumulation of LPO products in various tissues: the brain, heart, muscles, etc. [5, 6]. Activation of LPO has been shown to be a key stage in the pathogenesis of stress injury to the myocardium, and LPO inhibitors can prevent both the accumulation of LPO products and the development of the complex of stress injuries to the heart [7]. Meanwhile the role of accumulation of LPO products in the brain, induced as a result of EPS, has not been studied. A convenient object with which to study this problem is the retina, which develops in mammals from brain tissue and contains high concentrations of polyene lipids, undergoing LPO with a high reaction velocity [4]. Changes in retinal function can be easily and conveniently recorded as the electroretinogram (ERG) in response to photic stimulation. Psychogenic (stressor in origin) disturbances of vision also have been the subject of research in clinical ophthalmology for a long time [i]. However, the effect of stress on metabolism and functions of the retina, the peripheral part of the visual analyzer, has not previously been investigated.