title: Retinoscopic measurement of the refractive state of the rat.
abstract: Using retinoscopy, we measured the refractive state of 96 eyes of three different strains of rats: albino Sprague-Dawley, Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) with and without inherited retinal dystrophy, and lean and obese varieties of Zucker rats. Contrary to previous reports, we do not find consistent high hyperopia in the rat, but rather refractions that range from near emmetropia (-0.12 D) to extreme hyperopia (+18.95 D). This range of refractive errors suggests a poorly developed emmetropization mechanism in the rat, and that individual refractions should be performed on animals utilized in experiments where refractive state is critical.
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Mutti
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zadnik
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Howland
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D016117:Albinism, Ocular / Q000150:complications; D000818:Animals; D051381:Rats / Q000502:physiology*; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011924:Rats, Zucker; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000150:complications; D013045:Species Specificity