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Updated: Apr 23, 2026
A Model of Glaucoma Induced by Circumlimbal Suture in Rats and Mice
Published on: October 5, 2018
Changes in scleral collagen organization in murine chronic experimental glaucoma
Jacek K Pijanka1, Elizabeth C Kimball2, Mary E Pease2
1Structural Biophysics Group, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Purpose:
The organization of scleral collagen helps to determine the eye's biomechanical response to intraocular pressure (IOP), and may therefore be important in glaucoma. This study provides a quantitative assessment of changes in scleral collagen fibril organization in bead-induced murine experimental glaucoma.
Methods:
Wide-angle X-ray scattering was used to study the effect of bead-induced glaucoma on posterior scleral collagen organization in one eye of 12 CD1 mice, with untreated fellow eyes serving as controls. Three collagen parameters were measured: the local preferred fibril directions, the degree of collagen anisotropy, and the total fibrillar collagen content.
Results:
The mouse sclera featured a largely circumferential orientation of fibrillar collagen with respect to the optic nerve head canal. Localized alteration to fibril orientations was evident in the inferior peripapillary sclera of bead-treated eyes. Collagen anisotropy was significantly (P<0.05) reduced in bead-treated eyes in the superior peripapillary (Treated: 43±8%;
Control:
49±6%) and midposterior (Treated: 39±4%;
Control:
43±4%) sclera, and in the peripapillary region overall (Treated: 43±6%;
Control:
47±3%). No significant differences in total collagen content were found between groups.
Conclusions:
Spatial changes in collagen fibril anisotropy occur in the posterior sclera of mice with bead-induced chronic IOP elevation and axonal damage. These results support the idea that dynamic changes in scleral form and structure play a role in the development of experimental glaucoma in mice, and potentially in human glaucoma.
