Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a vascular disease that represents characteristic retinal hemorrhage and dilated retinal veins. Despite its clinical importance, its pathogenesis remains largely unknown because of limited opportunities to acquire human retinal samples. Therefore, an animal model that reproduces the clinical features of RVO patients is required for further investigation. In this study, we established a pigmented murine RVO model that reproduced characteristic fundus appearances similar to human RVO findings. Retinal edema in this model was observed in both optical coherence tomography and histological analysis, which is a clinically important outcome. With quantitative real-time PCR analysis on retinal samples, we revealed that the mRNA level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increased in the retina induced RVO. Moreover, this retinal edema was reduced by intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF antibody. These results were consistent with human clinical knowledge and suggested that this model could be a useful tool for research into new therapeutic approaches.

视网膜静脉阻塞（RVO）是一种血管疾病，表现为特征性视网膜出血和视网膜静脉扩张。尽管具有临床重要性，但由于获得人类视网膜样本的机会有限，其发病机制在很大程度上仍然未知。因此，需要一种重现 RVO 患者临床特征的动物模型进行进一步研究。在这项研究中，我们建立了一个有色小鼠 RVO 模型，该模型再现了类似于人类 RVO 发现的特征性眼底外观。在光学相干断层扫描和组织学分析中均观察到该模型中的视网膜水肿，这是临床上重要的结果。通过对视网膜样本进行实时定量 PCR 分析，我们发现视网膜诱导的 RVO 中血管内皮生长因子 (VEGF) 的 mRNA 水平增加。而且，这种视网膜水肿通过玻璃体内注射抗 VEGF 抗体而减轻。这些结果与人类临床知识一致，表明该模型可以成为研究新治疗方法的有用工具。