title: Digital image capture and quantification of subtle lens opacities in rodents.
abstract: A rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective method is reported for the subjective and objective documentation of subtle opacities in lenses of unanesthetized transgenic mice or selenite-injected rat pups as models for cataract formation. Animal eyes were dilated with eye drops and the animal was positioned in front of a Nikon FS2 photo slit lamp. Slit-lamp observations were recorded using a Canon Optura Pi digital video recorder. High-quality images of opacifying lenses were captured from the video and quantified using densitometry at progressive stages of opacification. In mice, targeted genomic deletion of the proteins CP49 (a lens-specific filament) or Six5 (a model for myotonic dystrophy) resulted in subtle cataracts that were easily recorded and quantified using this instrumentation. In rats, the early progressive changes leading to a dense nuclear opacity caused by selenite injection were easily documented using this instrumentation. Low-cost components combined with a conventional slit-lamp ophthalmoscope were used to capture high-quality images of selected stages of cataract formation for quantitative analysis using commercial software.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Seeberger
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alizadeh
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012377:Rodentia; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*