Traumatic Brain Injury Exacerbates Retinal Alzheimer’s Disease Histopathology in the TgF344 Rat Model

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition of the central nervous system that affects both the brain and the retina, and can lead to visual impairment. However, the factors that modulate AD pathophysiology leading to the wide range of clinical presentations are not well understood. Notably, traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can arise from sport concussions, military combat and other causes, is associated with a 2.3‐fold higher risk of developing AD and AD‐related dementias. Yet the pathophysiological link between TBI and AD remains poorly understood. In this study we set out to evaluate the effects of TBI, AD, and their combination, on retinal histopathology, by taking advantage of a transgenic rat model (Tg‐F344‐AD) shown to recapitulate the main features of human AD pathology, and combining it with a controlled cortical impact paradigm of repetitive mild TBI (rmTBI).