|
| Animal | Strength | Weakness |
|
| Mouse | (i) Cellular lesions are extensively studied
(ii) Availablility of many transgenic models, which allows the study of the role of particular genes in the development and pathophysiological progression of DR
(iii) Duration of developing early DR symptoms is short (i.e., within weeks to months)
(iv) Small in size, easy to handle and house
(v) A wide range of molecular reagents are available | (i) Only early DR lesions were observed
(ii) PDR does not spontaneously occur and it can only be induced with the aid of models of angiogenesis (e.g., OIR, occlusion, and VEGF-induced models) |
|
| Rat | (i) Cellular lesions are extensively studied
(ii) Duration of developing early DR symptoms is short (i.e., within weeks to months)
(iii) Small to medium in size, relatively easy to handle and house
(iv) A wide range of molecular reagents are available | (i) Only early DR lesions were observed, except in SDT rats
(ii) PDR will not spontaneously occur and it can only be induced with the aid of models of angiogenesis (e.g., OIR, I/R models) |
|
| Higher-order mammals including rabbit, cat, dog, pig, and nonhuman primates | (i) Relatively similar to the pathophysiology of DR in human
(ii) Larger tissues which allow easier in vivo examinations
(iii) Routine sampling of body fluids is allowed | (i) Longer life span, require longer period of time to develop DR
(ii) Large in size, difficult to handle and house
(iii) Lack of reagents for molecular studies
(iv) Heightened ethical concern |
|
| Zebrafish | (i) Genes of interest can be easily targeted induced, deleted, or overexpressed
(ii) Maintenance is simple, convenient, and inexpensive
(iii) Short life span and large breeding size, which allow shorter experimental turnover time
(iv) Minimal ethical concern | (i) Thickness of retinal layers and retinal vasculature is different
(ii) Retina is anatomically less similar to human
(iii) Skillful technique is required due to small size of tissue
(iv) Lack of reagents for molecular studies
(v) Not being widely used |
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