Développement de la spectrométrie rétinienne pour l'identification de nouveaux biomarqueurs précoces de la maladie de Parkinson

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The regulation of retinal blood flow and oxygenation are recognized as root causes of the majority of ocular diseases, such as glaucoma. There is thus a huge interest in measuring these parameters in vivo, ideally using non-invasive methods. Retnia's technology, based on optical spectroscopy, enables such non-invasive measurements in laboratory and clinical settings. Recently, there has been growing evidence that many neurodegenerative diseases also have an effect on the retina, which is part of the central nervous system. Of the many neurodegenerative diseases that could possibly be sensed in the eye, Parkinson's disease (PD) stands out, due to the retina's similarities to the substantia nigra, a midbrain region that is known to degenerate in PD. PD affects more than 100 000 Canadians and is considered as the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Some disease-modifying treatments exist but drugs that have been tested have provided disappointing results. This can be largely explained by the fact that the cardinal symptoms of PD typically manifest only when more than half of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra are lost. Therefore, early biomarkers of PD are urgently needed to succeed in disease-modifying therapies. In the proposed research project, we will use Retnia's multimodal imaging device to perform spectroscopy on the retina of healthy and parkinsonian monkeys in order to identify and locate optical biomarkers in the form of hemoglobin and melanin retinal content and abnormalities, for early detection of PD.