An effective and robust murine lens-induced myopia model evaluated with micro-CT imaging

Abstract

Purpose : The global increase of myopia, or short-sightedness, is becoming a serious health hazard in the world. The mechanism of the onset and progress of myopia is largely unknown and further study is needed for developing effective treatments. Animal models of experimental myopia using some types of species such as chicks and tree shrews can be induced relatively easy. To investigate the molecular mechanism of disease pathogenesis, it is desirable to induce axial elongation in mice with an efficient and effective method in terms of genetic manipulation. However, to date, most of murine experimental myopia models have been reported to be unstable and less effective. Here we show a highly reproducible murine lens-induced myopia model with a newly designed skull-mounted eyeglass using 3D-printer and customized lenses evaluated with a μ-CT system.

Methods : Frames of the eyeglass for the murine lens-induced myopia were designed according to the shape of the mouse head, and were made of titanium produced by a 3D-printer. Negative 30 diopter (D) lens made of PMMA were also designed to fit mouse eye and fixed to the right eye side of the frame. 3-week-old wild-type C57BL/6J mice were attached the eyeglasses by mounting the frame on their skull using a self-cure dental adhesive system. An infrared photorefractor (Steinbeis Transfer Center, Germany) was used to measure the refractive state. The axial length of the eye was analyzed by a μ-CT system (Rigaku, Japan) under general anesthesia by iohexol injection.

Results : A significant myopic shift in refraction was observed in the affected eyes (-5.74D) compared to the control eyes (+5.8D) in two weeks. The μ-CT system revealed that the affected eye was 60mm longer than the control eye after the treatment for three weeks.

Conclusions : The newly designed skull-mounted eyeglass can induce myopic state in mice effectively and stably. The μ-CT system is useful to measure the axial length of mouse eye with a high resolution.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.