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Evaluation of visual function in Royal College of Surgeon rats using a depth perception visual cliff test

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2019

Adi Tzameret ,
Ifat Sher ,
Victoria Edelstain ,
Michael Belkin ,
Ofra Kalter-Leibovici ,
Arieh S. Solomon  and
Ygal Rotenstreich
Adi Tzameret
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ifat Sher
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel
Victoria Edelstain
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Michael Belkin
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ofra Kalter-Leibovici
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel Unit of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Ramat Gan, Israel
Arieh S. Solomon*
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ygal Rotenstreich*
Affiliation:
Goldschleger Eye Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
*
*Address correspondence to: Ygal Rotenstreich, Email:Ygal.rotenstreich@sheba.health.gov.il; Arieh Solomon, Email:asolomon@post.tau.ac.il
*Address correspondence to: Ygal Rotenstreich, Email:Ygal.rotenstreich@sheba.health.gov.il; Arieh Solomon, Email:asolomon@post.tau.ac.il
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Abstract

Preserving of vision is the main goal in vision research. The presented research evaluates the preservation of visual function in Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rats using a depth perception test. Rats were placed on a stage with one side containing an illusory steep drop (“cliff”) and another side with a minimal drop (“table”). Latency of stage dismounting and the percentage of rats that set their first foot on the “cliff” side were determined. Nondystrophic Long–Evans (LE) rats were tested as control. Electroretinogram and histology analysis were used to determine retinal function and structure. Four-week-old RCS rats presented a significantly shorter mean latency to dismount the stage compared with 6-week-old rats (mean ± standard error, 13.7 ± 1.68 vs. 20.85 ± 6.5 s, P = 0.018). Longer latencies were recorded as rats aged, reaching 45.72 s in 15-week-old rats (P < 0.00001 compared with 4-week-old rats). All rats at the age of 4 weeks placed their first foot on the table side. By contrast, at the age of 8 weeks, 28.6% rats dismounted on the cliff side and at the age of 10 and 15 weeks, rats randomly dismounted the stage to either table or cliff side. LE rats dismounted the stage faster than 4-week-old RCS rats, but the difference was not statistically significant (7 ± 1.58 s, P = 0.057) and all LE rats dismounted on the table side. The latency to dismount the stage in RCS rats correlated with maximal electroretinogram b-wave under dark and light adaptation (Spearman’s rho test = −0.603 and −0.534, respectively, all P < 0.0001), outer nuclear layer thickness (Spearman’s rho test = −0.764, P = 0.002), and number of S- and M-cones (Spearman’s rho test = −0.763 [P = 0.002], and −0.733 [P = 0.004], respectively). The cliff avoidance test is an objective, quick, and readily available method for the determination of RCS rats’ visual function.

Keywords

Retinal degenerationVisual functionRCS ratsERG
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 36 , 2019 , E002
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

†

These authors contributed equally.

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