Imaging of cellular aging in human retinal blood vessels

•Cellular alterations observed in aged human retinal vessels revised.•Acellular capillaries and microaneurysms are the hallmark lesions in elderly retinas.•Age-related retinal vascular lesions are not exclusive of healthy aging.

To date two main aging vascular lesions have been reported in elderly human retinas: acellular capillaries and microaneurysms. However, their exact mechanism of formation remains unclear. Using high resolution microscopy techniques we revise cellular alterations observed in aged human retinal vessels, such as lipofuscin accumulation, caveolae malfunction, blood basement membrane disruption and enhanced apoptosis that could trigger the development of these aging vascular lesions. Moreover, we have generated a set of original images comparing retinal vasculature between middle and old aged healthy humans to show in a comprehensive manner the main structural and ultrastructural alterations occurred during age in retinal blood vessels.