Development of Microcystoid Macular Degeneration in the Retina of Nonhuman Primates: Time-Course and Associated Pathologies.

Purpose: Microcystoid macular degeneration (MMD) is a condition where cystoid vacuoles develop within the inner nuclear layer of the retina in humans in a variety of disorders. Here we report the occurrence of MMD in non-human primates (NHPs) with various retinal ganglion cell (RGC) pathologies and evaluate the hypothesis that MMD does not precede RGC loss but follows it.

Methods: Morphological studies were performed of the retinas of NHPs, specifically both rhesus () and cynomolgus macaques (), in which MMD was identified after induction of experimental glaucoma (EG), hemiretinal endodiathermy axotomy (HEA), and spontaneous idiopathic bilateral optic atrophy.

Multifocal electroretinography increases following experimental glaucoma in nonhuman primates with retinal ganglion cell axotomy.

Purpose: To determine whether short-latency changes in multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) observed in experimental glaucoma (EG) are secondary solely to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss or whether there is a separate contribution from elevated intraocular pressure (IOP).

Methods: Prior to operative procedures, a series of baseline mfERGs were recorded from six rhesus macaques using a 241-element unstretched stimulus. Animals then underwent hemiretinal endodiathermy axotomy (HEA) by placing burns along the inferior 180° of the optic nerve margin in the right eye (OD).