Retinal Oxygenation and Oxygen Metabolism in Abyssinian Cats with a Hereditary Retinal Degeneration

Abstract

Loss of photoreceptor metabolism allows choroidal oxygen to reach the inner retina, attenuating the retinal circulation in this animal model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and probably also in human RP. As the degeneration progresses, there is a strong relationship between changes in the a-wave of the ERG and changes in rod oxidative metabolism, indicating that these two functional measures change together.