A Model to Study Differences between Primary and Secondary Degeneration of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Rats by Partial Optic Nerve Transection

Abstract

A model of partial optic nerve transection in rats showed rapid loss of directly injured RGCs in the superior retina and delayed, but significant secondary loss of RGCs in the inferior retina, whose axons were not severed. The findings confirm similar results in monkey eyes and provide a rodent model in which pharmacologic interventions against secondary degeneration can be tested.