Table 3.

Incidence, severity and bilaterality of retinal degeneration in F344/N male and female rats treated with acrylamide in drinking water for two years.

2-year bioassay of Acrylamide		Acrylamide (mM)
		0	0.0875	0.175	0.35	0.70
Males
Retinal degeneration		7/42d (17%)a*	6/46 (13%)	13/45 (29%)	10/45 (22%)	16/44 (36%)*
	Average severityb	1.4	1.7	1.1	1.4	1.5
	Bilateral changec	14%	17%	23%	0%	25%
Females
Retinal degeneration		16/44 (36%)*	12/46 (26%)	17/46 (37%)	17/45 (38%)	24/46 (52%)
	Average severity	1.3	1.8	1.9	1.6	1.8
	Bilateral change	19%*	50%	35%	35%	50%*

^a: Frequency of retinal degeneration within all areas of the retina (central /hemispherical/peripheral)

^b: Average severity grade of lesions in affected eyes: 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = marked

^c: Rate of bilateral retinal degeneration in affected rats

^d: Fifty animals per group were initially assigned to each study however some animals were excluded from the assessment because of improper specimen handling, post mortem autolysis or due to early deaths.

Significant at *p < 0.05.

Trend test under control column; pairwise test under dose group columns.