Voluntary exercise preserves visual function and reduces inflammatory response in an adult mouse model of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa

Whole-body physical exercise has been shown to promote retinal structure and function preservation in animal models of retinal degeneration. It is currently unknown how exercise modulates retinal inflammatory responses. In this study, we investigated cytokine alterations associated with retinal neuroprotection induced by voluntary running wheel exercise in a retinal degeneration mouse model of class B1 autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, I307N Rho. I307N Rho mice undergo rod photoreceptor degeneration when exposed to bright light (induced). Our data show, active induced mice exhibited significant preservation of retinal and visual function compared to inactive induced mice after 4 weeks of exercise. Retinal cytokine expression revealed significant reductions of proinflammatory chemokines, keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC) and interferon gamma inducible protein-10 (IP-10) expression in active groups compared to inactive groups. Through immunofluorescence, we found KC and IP-10 labeling localized to retinal vasculature marker, collagen IV. These data show that whole-body exercise lowers specific retinal cytokine expression associated with retinal vasculature. Future studies should determine whether suppression of inflammatory responses is requisite for exercise-induced retinal protection.