Figure 1.

Retinal terminal field in the SC of control rats and of diabetic rats at different time points after STZ injection. Photomicrographs showing the CTB staining patterns in the superficial layers of the SC of control animals and diabetic rats. Three representative sections (rostral, medial, and caudal) are shown. Dorsal views of a retinotopic SC map reconstruction are also shown. Three weeks after diabetes induction, no signs of alterations were observed. In animals that were diabetic for 6 weeks, a clear reduction in the density of retinal terminals and zones of no CTB staining were found, especially in the lateral area. Fifteen weeks after diabetes induction, a similar reduction in the CTB staining pattern density was observed. Shown are images representative of five animals per group. Scale bar = 1 mm.