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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
A Laser-induced Mouse Model of Chronic Ocular Hypertension to Characterize Visual Defects
Published on: August 14, 2013
Pigmented and albino rats differ in their responses to moderate, acute and reversible intraocular pressure elevation
Akshay Gurdita1, Bingyao Tan2, Karen M Joos3
1School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
Purpose:
To compare the electrophysiological and morphological responses to acute, moderately elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD), Long-Evans (LE) and Brown Norway (BN) rat eyes.
Methods:
Eleven-week-old SD (n = 5), LE (n = 5) and BN (n = 5) rats were used. Scotopic threshold responses (STRs), Maxwellian flash electroretinograms (ERGs) or ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) images of the rat retinas were collected from both eyes before, during and after IOP elevation of one eye. IOP was raised to ~35 mmHg for 1 h using a vascular loop, while the other eye served as a control. STRs, ERGs and UHR-OCT images were acquired on 3 days separated by 1 day of no experimental manipulation.
Results:
There were no significant differences between species in baseline electroretinography. However, during IOP elevation, peak positive STR amplitudes in LE (mean ± standard deviation 259 ± 124 µV) and BN (228 ± 96 µV) rats were about fourfold higher than those in SD rats (56 ± 46 µV) rats (p = 0.0002 for both). Similarly, during elevated IOP, ERG b-wave amplitudes were twofold higher in LE and BN rats compared to those of SD rats (947 ± 129 µV and 892 ± 184 µV, vs 427 ± 138 µV; p = 0.0002 for both). UHR-OCT images showed backward bowing in all groups during IOP elevation, with a return to typical form about 30 min after IOP elevation.
Conclusion:
Differences in the loop-induced responses between the strains are likely due to different inherent retinal morphology and physiology.
