Abstract
Electrophysiological properties of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) were studied in the rat with hereditary retinal dystrophy (rdy). Transocular potential changes evoked by intravenous bolus injections of azide and thiocyanate (SCN-) are the only available indication of RPE state when degeneration of rods is in progress. Also determined were age-dependent decrease in retinal DNA content and in counts of cones that survive after degeneration of rods. The azide response in the pigmented and albino rdy rat was already reduced at the earliest age tested (60 d) and continued to decrease till the age of 2 years. The SCN-response was similarly affected but seemed to decline faster than the azide response. The azide/SCN- response ratio was significantly increased in albino mutants, especially around the age of 400 d. At the age of 10 months and later, the azide and SCN- responses became slower than those of normals. A prolonged exposure of 1,200 1x light to dystrophic rats older than 110 did not affect the azide and SCN- responses whereas the same exposure abolishes the responses of normal rats and of the dystrophic rats at early stages. In rdy rats, the electrophysiological changes were considered to correlate with structural changes of the junctional RPE complex and with abnormal membrane enzyme distribution discovered by others. These RPE changes may contribute to the decreasing cone cell number after rod cell disappearance.
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