Abstract
The fovea is a depression in the center of the macula and is the site of the highest visual acuity. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has contributed considerably in elucidating the pathologic changes in the fovea and is now being considered as an accompanying imaging method in drug development, such as antivascular endothelial growth factor and its safety profiling. Because animal numbers are limited in preclinical studies and automatized image evaluation tools have not yet been routinely employed, essential reference data describing the morphologic variations in macular thickness in laboratory cynomolgus monkeys are sparse to nonexistent. A hybrid machine learning algorithm was applied for automated OCT image processing and measurements of central retina thickness and surface area values. Morphological variations and the effects of sex and geographical origin were determined. Based on our findings, the fovea parameters are specific to the geographic origin. Despite morphological similarities among cynomolgus monkeys, considerable variations in the foveolar contour, even within the same species but from different geographic origins, were found. The results of the reference database show that not only the entire retinal thickness, but also the macular subfields, should be considered when designing preclinical studies and in the interpretation of foveal data.
Highlights
The fovea is a depression in the center of the macula and is the site of the highest visual acuity
Research in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) has provided essential insights for the development, nonclinical ocular safety profiling, and therapeutic interventions of drugs, especially for agents or gene therapy administered in the fovea[4,5,6,7,8,9]
Changes in macular thickness were examined in cynomolgus monkeys for the safety assessment of retinal therapies, such as antivascular endothelial growth factor administration[13,14,15]
Summary
The fovea is a depression in the center of the macula and is the site of the highest visual acuity. Changes in macular thickness were examined in cynomolgus monkeys for the safety assessment of retinal therapies, such as antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) administration[13,14,15] These studies have paved the way for a clinical application in humans and established the use of anti-VEGF therapy as a reliable treatment of neovascular age-related macular d egeneration[16,17], representing, to date, one of the most frequent and successful ocular interventions[18]. OCT imaging in preclinical studies is of unique translational importance to facilitate safety monitoring in clinical trials
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