Studies on Chloroquine Retinopathy in Rabbits

Abstract

CHLOROQUINE PHOSPHATE may induce irreversible retinal pigmentary degeneration in humans who receive the drug in high doses over a long period of time. This report describes ocular changes seen in rabbits after the prolonged oral administration of chloroquine phosphate. <h3>Materials and Methods</h3> Four albino and four pigmented healthy rabbits were fed chloroquine phosphate mixed with their food daily for 11 months. On the basis of a usual human dose of 250 mg/day for a 60-kg human (4.2 mg/k of body weight per day), four animals (two albino and two pigmented) received an approximate daily dosage of 42 mg/day/kg of body weight (ten times the usual human dose), and four animals (two albino and two pigmented) received 21 mg/kg of body weight per day (five times the usual human dose). The dosage for this latter group was later arbitrarily increased fourfold to 84 mg/kg of body weight per day (20 times