Ben-Shlomo Gil, Ofri Ron
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, PO Box 12, Herzl Street, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Exp Eye Res. 2006 Aug;83(2):417-23. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2006.01.020. Epub 2006 Apr 14.
Though the rat is increasingly used as an animal model in ophthalmic research, including the study of glaucoma, little is known about age-related changes in its inner retinal function. The aim of this study was to evaluate these changes in the rat during the first 18 weeks of life. The pattern electroretinogram (PERG) was used to monitor inner retinal activity in 16 developing rats. In each animal, recordings were conducted at ages 3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 18 weeks to assess age-related changes in function. Signals were evoked by five stimuli of progressively increasing check width (subtending 82-1312 arc minutes of visual angle) that were projected directly onto the fundus through a specially modified ophthalmoscope which allowed visual and manual control of stimulus quality. Poor signal:noise ratio prevented signal analysis at age 3 weeks. Subsequently, PERG amplitude increased significantly, up to 242% (depending on stimulus check width), during weeks 5-11. After peaking at 11 weeks, signal amplitude declined moderately. Signal latency mirrored that of amplitude, decreasing during the first 11 weeks, and then increasing steadily. Latency was not affected by stimulus check width. Age was highly correlated with P1 latency (R(2)=0.80) and moderately correlated with N2 latency (R(2)=0.52). Therefore, we propose that studies of inner retinal diseases (such as glaucoma) in the rat model should use age-matched controls, as electrophysiological results may be confounded by age-related changes. The rat PERG undergoes many of the age-related changes that have been reported in humans, and thus may serve as an animal model to study development of inner retinal function.
尽管大鼠越来越多地被用作眼科研究的动物模型，包括青光眼研究，但对其视网膜内层功能的年龄相关变化却知之甚少。本研究的目的是评估大鼠出生后前18周内的这些变化。使用图形视网膜电图（PERG）监测16只发育中的大鼠的视网膜内层活动。对每只动物在3、5、7、11、14和18周龄时进行记录，以评估功能的年龄相关变化。通过五个视标宽度逐渐增加（视角为82 - 1312分弧度）的刺激来诱发信号，这些刺激通过一台经过特殊改装的检眼镜直接投射到眼底，该检眼镜可实现对视标质量的视觉和手动控制。3周龄时信号噪声比不佳，无法进行信号分析。随后，在5 - 11周期间，PERG振幅显著增加，最高可达242%（取决于刺激视标宽度）。在11周达到峰值后，信号振幅适度下降。信号潜伏期与振幅变化趋势相似，在最初11周内下降，然后稳步上升。潜伏期不受刺激视标宽度的影响。年龄与P1潜伏期高度相关（R(2)=0.80），与N2潜伏期中度相关（R(2)=0.52）。因此，我们建议在大鼠模型中进行视网膜内层疾病（如青光眼）研究时应使用年龄匹配的对照，因为电生理结果可能会受到年龄相关变化的干扰。大鼠PERG经历了许多在人类中报道过的年龄相关变化，因此可作为研究视网膜内层功能发育的动物模型。
