title: Changes in morphology and visual function over time in mouse models of retinal degeneration: an SD-OCT, histology, and electroretinography study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the long-term natural course of retinal degeneration in rd10 and rd12 mice using serial spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), electroretinography/electroretinograms (ERGs), and histological analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Photoreceptor layer thickness and the ability to visualize photoreceptor ellipsoid zones were analyzed using SD-OCT images, and these images were compared with hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections and electron microscopy images. The a- and b-wave amplitudes of the ERGs were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In rd10 mice, the photoreceptor layer thickness rapidly decreased, and the photoreceptor ellipsoid zone was visible on SD-OCT images in 89 and 43 % of eyes of 21 and 33-day-old mice, respectively. In rd12 mice, the photoreceptor layer gradually thinned, and the ellipsoid zone remained visible in 92 % of eyes at 19 months. Electron microscopy revealed that photoreceptor degeneration had occurred on the inner side of the outer nuclear layer in 21-day-old rd10 and 7-month-old rd12 mice, possibly due to autophagy mechanisms. Scotopic ERGs of rd10 mice showed a diminished response at 21 days; at 33 days, no response was detectable. In rd12 mice, scotopic ERGs were undetectable at 28 days (stimulus intensity 3.0 cds/m(2)). Photopic ERGs were nearly undetectable in 28-day-old rd10 mice, but a small b-wave was still recordable in 13-month-old rd12 mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that visual function deteriorated with photoreceptor degeneration within 1 month in rd10 mice. In rd12 mice, however, the process of visual function deterioration and photoreceptor degeneration was still in progress at 13 months of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Kawahara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Kawahara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. hanakoi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp.|Institute for Advancement of Clinical and Translational Science, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. hanakoi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hanako O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Kawahara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Kawahara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Muraoka
authors.affiliation: Center for Anatomical Studies, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuruyama
authors.affiliation: Center for Anatomical Studies, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto-Furuta
authors.affiliation: Center for Anatomical Studies, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kohda
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Kawahara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Nagahisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004596:Electroretinography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D051379:Mice; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Longitudinal study; Retinal degeneration; Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography; rd10; rd12