Structural and functional maturation of the retina of the albino Hartley guinea pig

Abstract

Altricial animals, such as rats and mice, are born with their eyes closed, compared to precocial animals, such as guinea pigs and humans, which have their eyes opened at birth. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the retina of guinea pigs (precocial animal) is subjected to a postnatal maturation process similar to that previously reported for rodents. Photopic and scotopic electroretinograms (ERG) and retinal histology were obtained from albino guinea pigs aged P1 to P75. Photopic ERG responses reached maximal amplitudes at P5 (a-and b-waves), that is 5 days (b-wave) to 10 days (a-wave) earlier than scotopic responses. However, the postnatal gain in b-wave amplitude was significantly (P < 0.05) more important for the cone (73.38 +/- 4.4%) signal than for the rod (15.23 +/- 3.96%), suggesting that the rod function is more mature at birth. Similarly, the short latency photopic oscillatory potential (ie: OP2) reached its maximal value 5 days (P10) earlier than its scotopic equivalent (P15), while the long latency OPs (ie: OP3, OP4), reached their maximal values nearly 20 days sooner in scotopic condition. Finally retinal histology revealed a thinning of the retina with age, the latter being most pronounced at the level of the ganglion cell layer (GCL). Our results thus confirm that despite its relative maturity at birth (compared to rodents), the retina of newborn albino guinea pigs undergoes significant postnatal maturation modifying its structure as well as its function, albeit not as extensive as that previously documented for altricial animals.