title: A rat experimental model of glaucoma incorporating rapid-onset elevation of intraocular pressure.
abstract: Glaucoma is a chronic disease that causes structural and functional damage to retinal ganglion cells (RGC). The currently employed therapeutic options are not sufficient to prevent vision loss in patients with glaucoma; therefore, there is a need to develop novel therapies, which requires the creation of functional, repeatable and easy-to-utilize animal models for use in pre-clinical studies. The currently available models ensure only low to moderate damage in optic nerves, with high variation in the outcomes and poor repeatability. We have developed an effective and reproducible rat glaucoma model based on a previous idea for a "Bead Model" in mice, which could be useful in future glaucoma research. Additionally, in an attempt to achieve rapid elevation of Intraocular Pressure (IOP), we included an initial "high-pressure injury" as part of this method, which serves as the equivalent of a severe glaucoma attack. These modifications made it possible to achieve longer lasting IOP elevation with chronic damage of retinal ganglion cells.
authors: 1] Department of Physiology, Medical University of Silesia, Medykow 18, 40-752 Katowice, Poland [2] Department of Ophthalmology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland [3].
authors: Adrian
authors: A
authors: Smedowski
authors: 1] Department of Physiology, Medical University of Silesia, Medykow 18, 40-752 Katowice, Poland [2].
authors: Marita
authors: M
authors: Pietrucha-Dutczak
authors: 1] Department of Ophthalmology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland [2] Department of Ophthalmology, Kuopio University Hospital, P.O. Box 1777, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Kaarniranta
authors: Department of Physiology, Medical University of Silesia, Medykow 18, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
authors: Joanna
authors: J
authors: Lewin-Kowalik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology