title: Age-related changes in the mouse outer retina.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To define the physiological and structural changes that may accompany aging in the normal mouse retina.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL/6 mice were maintained under cyclic light for either 2, 6, or 12 months. After rod- and cone-mediated corneal electroretinograms (ERG's) were recorded from anesthetized animals, the retinal structure was quantitatively examined. Photoreceptor cell density was measured within 100-microm regions of the central superior and inferior retina. Cone photoreceptor subtypes were identified by immunocytochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amplitudes of rod- and cone-mediated ERG's were reduced in older mice, although the overall ERG wave-form did not change appreciably and implicit times were not changed in an age-dependent fashion. In comparison, there was no significant age-related decline in rod or cone photoreceptor density.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The amplitude of the mouse ERG declines with age. This change does not appear to reflect a change in the structural integrity of the photoreceptor cells. In functional studies of murine models of late-onset retinal disorders, it will be important to take these changes into consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Peachey
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Naash
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D004596:Electroretinography; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D008027:Light; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017299:Rod Opsins