title: The electroretinogram of Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus): comparison to mouse.
abstract: The Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) is a diurnal rodent whose retinal photoreceptors comprise 13% cones in contrast to 1-3% in nocturnal mice and rats. Moreover, it displays a retinal structure more analogous to that of human than of mouse. However, the electroretinogram (ERG) recordings of gerbils have not yet been well studied. Thus, here we compared the ERGs of gerbils and C57 mice. We recorded responses to full-field flashes of increasing intensities under both dark and light adaptation. We also investigated responses to flickers of increasing frequencies and to long-duration flashes under photopic conditions. In scotopic, the amplitudes of the gerbil a- and b-waves are slightly smaller than those of the mouse waves. However, in photopic, the gerbil wave amplitudes are 2-fold larger than those of mice. Gerbils also exhibit larger flicker responses and higher flicker fusion frequencies than mice. Furthermore, unlike mice, gerbils show a positive OFF response (d-wave) and a post b-wave positive potential (i-wave), features commonly observed in human photopic ERGs. Our results suggest that gerbils may complement rod-dominant mice as models for studying retinal cone function and pathologies.
authors.affiliation: GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shengyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China; Department of Pathophysiology, Jinan University School of Medicine, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Guoyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Kwok-Fai
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 54 Xianlie Road S., Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: 13710584767@163.com.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 West Huangpu Ave, Guangzhou, China; Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Jiangsu, PR China. Electronic address: xuying@jnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003624:Darkness; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D005849:Gerbillinae; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000502:physiology; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D055351:Retinal Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
keywords: Cone; Electroretinogram; Mongolian gerbil; Mouse