奥尔胡斯大学Jens Randel Nyengaard小组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们的最新研究提出了由果胶支持的鸟类视网膜内无氧代谢。2026年1月21日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。

在这里，小组表明，当视网膜外部的光感受器外部部分可以获得氧气时，鸟类视网膜内部在视网膜神经元厌氧糖酵解的支持下，在慢性缺氧下运作。课题组研究人员提供的证据表明，眼果胶——鸟类玻璃体中独特的血管化结构，其功能已经争论了几个世纪——为缺氧的视网膜内提供葡萄糖并去除乳酸。该团队认为，果胶对鸟类视网膜缺氧耐受性的代谢支持首先促进了厚细胞密集的无血管视网膜的进化，这其次是在高海拔迁徙期间实现视网膜功能的一种兴奋。

据了解，神经组织对缺氧异常敏感，并依赖于密集的血管网络来支持其对氧气、营养物质和废物清除的异常高的代谢需求。在鸟类中，代谢要求最高的神经组织之一视网膜缺乏内部血管。这就提出了这样一个问题：这样一个需要代谢的神经组织如何在没有血液完善的情况下发挥作用。

附：英文原文

Title: Oxygen-free metabolism in the bird inner retina supported by the pecten

Author: Damsgaard, Christian, Sktt, Mia Viuf, Williams, Catherine J. A., Malte, Hans, Kidmose, Camilla Kruse, Busk, Morten, Dedek, Karin, Konradsen, Andreas H., Rasmussen, Anne Sofie Stengel, Thomsen, Jesper Skovhus, Mikkelsen, Anna V. G. T., Johannsen, Katrine S., Vendelbo, Mikkel, Revsbech, Niels Peter, Elemans, Coen P. H., Mouritsen, Henrik, Kalucka, Joanna, Lin, Lin, Iversen, Nina Kerting, Wang, Tobias, Lauridsen, Henrik, Nyengaard, Jens Randel

Issue&Volume: 2026-01-21

Abstract: Neural tissues are exceptionally sensitive to oxygen deprivation and rely on a dense network of blood vessels to support their extraordinarily high metabolic demands for oxygen, nutrients and clearance of waste products1,2,3,4. In birds, one of the metabolically most demanding neural tissue—the retina—lacks internal blood vessels5,6. This raises the question of how such a metabolically demanding neural tissue can function without blood perfusion. Here we show that, while the photoreceptor outer segments in the outer retina have access to oxygen, the inner bird retina operates under chronic anoxia, supported by anaerobic glycolysis in the retinal neurons. We provide evidence that the pecten oculi—a uniquely vascularized structure in the vitreous humour of birds, the function of which has been debated for centuries5,6,7,8,9—supplies the anoxic inner retina with glucose and removes lactic acid. We suggest that the pecten’s metabolic support of the bird retina’s anoxia tolerance enabled first the evolution of a thick cell-dense, avascular retina, which secondarily served as an exaptation enabling retinal function during high-altitude migrations.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09978-w

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09978-w