title: The photopic ERG of the albino guinea pig (Cavia porcellus): a model of the human photopic ERG.
abstract: Altricial rodents such as rats and mice are probably the most widely used animal model in the electroretinogram (ERG) literature. However, while the scotopic responses of these rodents share obvious similarities with that of humans, their photopic electroretinograms are strikingly different. For instance, the photopic ERGs of rats and mice include, when measurable, a minimal a-wave, while the b-wave is of much larger amplitude than that of humans. The purpose of this study is to present the albino guinea pig which is like humans, is a precocial animal, and is a better rodent model of the human photopic ERG. In order to investigate the above, photopic electroretinograms and oscillatory potentials, obtained from guinea pigs and human subjects, were compared. Furthermore, in a subset of animals we injected, intravitreally, selective blockers of the ON- (L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid: L-AP-4; 10 mM) or OFF- (kynurenic acid: KYN; 50 mM) retinal pathways in order to mimic similar retinal disorders found in human. Based on our results, we believe that, compared to rats and mice, the photopic (cone-mediated) ERG of the guinea pig clearly represents a superior rodent model of the human photopic ERG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology D-164, McGill University-Montreal Children's Hospital-Research Institute, 2300 Tupper Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3H 1P3.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rufiange
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosolen
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lachapelle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004596:Electroretinography / Q000379:methods; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D007736:Kynurenic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D051379:Mice; D011422:Propionates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology; D014822:Vitreous Body
chemical_list: C114785:2-amino-4-phosphono-propinate; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D011422:Propionates; D007736:Kynurenic Acid