Vascular damage in a mouse model of diabetic retinopathy: relation to neuronal and glial changes.

Purpose: Lack of information about the development of diabetic retinopathy in mice has greatly hindered the use of genetic mouse models for the study of disease mechanisms and the development of therapeutic strategies. The objective of this study was to characterize the occurrence and pathologic progression of diabetic retinopathy in C57Bl/6J mice.

Methods: Diabetes was induced with five consecutive injections of streptozotocin (STZ).