New photic stimulating system with white light-emitting diodes to elicit electroretinograms from zebrafish larvae.

PURPOSE

The zebrafish is an established animal model commonly used in biological, neuroscience, and genetic research. We have developed a new light stimulating system using white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to elicit ERGs from zebrafish larvae. The purpose of this study was to record full-field ERGs and to evaluate the inter-trial reliability of the ERGs recorded with our system from zebrafish larvae.

METHODS

The stimulating device used white LEDs that were attached to a stereomicroscope, and the location of the recording electrode on the cornea could be monitored while the eye was being stimulated. Full-field scotopic and photopic ERGs were recorded from larvae at the age of 5-7 days post-fertilization (dpf). Intensity-response curves were constructed from the ERGs. Inter-trial reliability of the ERGs recorded by our system was evaluated.

RESULTS

This stimulating system could be used for efficient and reliable ERG recordings from 5-7 dpf larvae. The amplitudes, implicit times, and the waveforms of the scotopic and photopic ERGs were similar to those reported in earlier studies. Inter-trial reliability of the amplitudes of the photopic ERG b-waves was excellent with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.98.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that this new light stimulation system using white LEDs attached to a stereomicroscope will be helpful in recording reliable ERGs from zebrafish larvae.