Abstract
Adult New Zealand Red (NZR) rabbits were used to determine if the techniques developed in the rat to transplant sheets of photoreceptors could be adapted to larger eyes of the rabbit. Adult donor NZR rabbit retina was cut into small strips, oriented, and drawn up in a small and flat polyethylene tube. By transscleral approach, donor retina was correctly oriented and gently placed into the subretinal space of host retinas that were previously ablated of photoreceptors by intravitreal injection of hemoglobin. Two weeks after surgery, rabbits were terminated and eyes processed for histology. Morphologic evaluation indicated that photoreceptors were transplantable between adult rabbits by adaptation of previously developed methods and that they were well maintained for 2 weeks. Transplanted photoreceptors also appreared to retain nearly normal inner and outer segment (I & OS) morphology and anti-opsin reactivity. Finally, inclusion of the inner retina also appeared to help maintain the correct I & OS apposition to the host retinal pigmented epithelium.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
