Ocular Manifestations of Alzheimer’s Disease in Animal Models

Table 3

Retinal changes documented in AD transgenic animal models.

Type	Mutations	Age	Aβ in retina	Aβ plaques	Aβ in retinal vasculature	APP immunoreactivity	Tau deposits	Neuroinflammation	Neuronal cell loss	References
Single	APPswe double K595N/M596L	14 months	GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, ONL	Yes	Retinal capillaries	GCL, INL	GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, ONL	Detected in all layers of retina	Yes	[105]
Single	APPswe double K595N/M596L	14 months	GCL	No	n/a	GCL, INL	n/a	n/a	n/a	[106]
Single	APPswe double K595N/M596L	24 months	GCL, INL, ONL	No	n/a	Yes—layers not specified	n/a	n/a	n/a	[109]
Single	PS1 knock-in	12, 15 and 30 months	Not detected	No	n/a	Not detected	n/a	n/a	n/a	[109]
Single	Human P301S tau	2–5 months	n/a	Yes	n/a	n/a	RNFL, GCL	n/a	No	[110]
Double	APPswe/PS1M146L	7.8 months	Virtually absent	Yes	Not detected	GCL, INL	n/a	GCL (less than at 27 months)	GCL (less than at 27 months)	[107]
Double	APPswe/PS1M146L	27 months	RNFL, GCL	Yes	Retinal and choroidal	GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, OS, RPE	n/a	GCL, IPL, OPL	GCL	[107]
Double	APPswe/PS1ΔE9	10.5 months	RNFL	Yes	Choroidal only	GCL	n/a	GCL, IPL	GCL	[107]
Double	APPswe/PS1ΔE9	9 months	GCL, IPL, INL, OPL	No	n/a	IPL, OPL	n/a	n/a	n/a	[106]
Double	APPswe/PS1ΔE9	12–21 months	IPL, OPL	IPL, OPL	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	No	[108]
Double	APPswe/PS1ΔE9	24 months	GCL, INL, ONL	No	n/a	Yes—layers not specified	n/a	n/a	n/a	[109]
Double	APPswe/PS1ΔE9	2.5–17 months	RNFL, GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, OS	RNFL, GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, OS	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	[69]
Triple	APPswe/PS1/P301L	18 months	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Yes	[45]
Triple	APPswe/PS1/P301L	18 months	GCL, OS	GCL, OS	n/a	n/a	GCL, IPL, INL, OPL, ONL, OS	n/a	n/a	[111]

RNFL: retinal nerve fibre layer, GCL: ganglion cell layer, IPL: inner plexiform layer, INL: inner nuclear layer, OPL: outer plexiform layer, ONL: outer nuclear layer, OS: photoreceptor outer segments.