title: Test-retest reliability of scotopic full-field electroretinograms in rabbits.
abstract: To explore test-retest reliability of standard scotopic full-field ERG measurements in New Zealand White rabbits. The ERG is widely used for testing of retinal integrity after any ocular treatment. We here present detailed stimulus-response dependencies for single healthy and untreated animals, concentrating on test-retest reproducibility.
  
  
  
  Five New Zealand White rabbits (aged 8-10 weeks, weight about 2.0-2.5 kg) underwent binocular ERG measurements after intramuscular anesthesia and pharmaceutical pupillary dilatation at a baseline day and 10 days later. Eleven scotopic flash strengths (0.0001-10 cd s/m2) were presented. Variability was quantified via the 95% limits of agreement (LOA).
  
  
  
  The a-waves displayed the typical monotonic sigmoid amplitude increase with flash strength, and the b-waves peaked at 0.01 cd s/m2, followed by a marked dip at 0.1-0.3 cd s/m2. LOA of both waves went through a maximum in the dip region. LOA divided by mean amplitudes (relative LOA) was fairly flat over flash strength, around 20% beyond the dip. Intraindividual interocular variability was markedly lower, around 10%.
  
  
  
  Scotopic ERG responses in rabbits display a region of high variability at 0.1-0.3 cd s/m2; beyond that region the amplitude-LOA is 20%, the interocular LOA being half that value. The use of intraindividual control eyes for testing any toxicity of ocular agents thus appears markedly more sensitive. As a rule of thumb, we found the relative 95% LOA as 33% between individuals, 20% across sessions and 10% between eyes.
authors.affiliation: Eye Center, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Killianstrasse 5, 79106, Freiburg, Germany. jan.luebke@uniklinik-freiburg.de.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. jan.luebke@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luebke
authors.affiliation: Eye Center, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Killianstrasse 5, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anton
authors.affiliation: Eye Center, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Killianstrasse 5, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003623:Dark Adaptation / Q000502:physiology*; D004596:Electroretinography / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology
keywords: ERG; Rabbits; Test–retest reliability