Figure 5. Diabetes induces outer retinal edema and loss of cones photoreceptors.

Diabetic retina (DIA) demonstrated increased extracellular spaces within the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and photoreceptor segment disorganization, consistent with an edematous aspect of the outer retina (Historesin (a) and semithin sections (b)). Peanut agglutinin labeling, a specific marker of cone extracellular matrix, evidenced a marked decreased in cell cone density (c). Whole retina quantification of cones evaluated the net loss to be around 20% (d) as compared to controls (p = 0.002, Mann–Whitney test).