Skip to main content
PMC home page
The British Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to The British Journal of Ophthalmology
. 1992 Jan;76(1):11–16. doi: 10.1136/bjo.76.1.11

A primate model for age related macular drusen.

G M Hope 1, W W Dawson 1, H M Engel 1, R J Ulshafer 1, M J Kessler 1, M B Sherwood 1
PMCID: PMC504141  PMID: 1739683

Abstract

A closed colony of semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys maintained in isolation since 1938 by the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) is being studied as a model for age related macular drusen. Of examined colony animals 57.7% of the monkeys and 47.3% of their eyes have drusen. The prevalence and severity of drusen are linearly related to increasing age and are significantly higher in specific maternal lineages (matrilines). An electrophysiological estimate indicates loss of function associated with drusen. Prevalence of drusen in CPRC females is almost twice that of males, while the prevalence among CPRC animals in general appears to be several times that of monkeys from continental US facilities. Evidence suggests that the frequency of endstage lesions is also similar to that in human populations. The CPRC matriline monkeys appear to provide the best model yet reported for human age related macular drusen.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

12Image
on p.12

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andrasko G. J. Corneal deswelling response to hard and hydrogel extended wear lenses. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1986 Jan;27(1):20–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bellhorn R. W., King C. D., Aguirre G. D., Ripps H., Siegel I. M., Tsai H. C. Pigmentary abnormalities of the macula in rhesus monkeys: clinical observations. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1981 Dec;21(6):771–781. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berard J. D. Life histories of male Cayo Santiago macaques. P R Health Sci J. 1989 Apr;8(1):61–64. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bressler N. M., Bressler S. B., Fine S. L. Age-related macular degeneration. Surv Ophthalmol. 1988 May-Jun;32(6):375–413. doi: 10.1016/0039-6257(88)90052-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dawson W. W., Engel H. M., Hope G. M., Kessler M. J., Ulshafer R. J. Adult-onset macular degeneration in the Cayo Santiago macaques. P R Health Sci J. 1989 Apr;8(1):111–115. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dawson W. W., Maida T. M. Relations between the human retinal cone and ganglion cell distribution. Ophthalmologica. 1984;188(4):216–221. doi: 10.1159/000309366. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dawson W. W., Stratton R. D., Hope G. M., Parmer R., Engel H. M., Kessler M. J. Tissue responses of the monkey retina: tuning and dependence on inner layer integrity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1986 May;27(5):734–745. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dawson W. W., Ulshafer R. J., Engel H. M., Hope G. M., Kessler M. J. Macular disease in related rhesus monkeys. Doc Ophthalmol. 1989 Mar;71(3):253–263. doi: 10.1007/BF00170974. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Delaney W. V., Jr, Oates R. P. Senile macular degeneration: a preliminary study. Ann Ophthalmol. 1982 Jan;14(1):21–24. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. El-Mofty A. A., Eisner G., Balazs E. A., Denlinger J. L., Gouras P. Retinal degeneration in rhesus monkeys, Macaca mulatta. Survey of three seminatural free-breeding colonies. Exp Eye Res. 1980 Aug;31(2):147–166. doi: 10.1016/0014-4835(80)90075-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. El-Mofty A., Gouras P., Eisner G., Balazs E. A. Macular degeneration in rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Exp Eye Res. 1978 Oct;27(4):499–502. doi: 10.1016/0014-4835(78)90027-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Engel H. M., Dawson W. W., Ulshafer R. J., Hines M. W., Kessler M. J. Degenerative changes in maculas of rhesus monkeys. Ophthalmologica. 1988;196(3):143–150. doi: 10.1159/000309891. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Feeney-Burns L., Malinow R., Klein M. L., Neuringer M. Maculopathy in cynomolgus monkeys. A correlated fluorescein angiographic and ultrastructural study. Arch Ophthalmol. 1981 Apr;99(4):664–672. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1981.03930010664013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ferris F. L., 3rd Senile macular degeneration: review of epidemiologic features. Am J Epidemiol. 1983 Aug;118(2):132–151. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113624. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Fine B. S., Kwapien R. P. Pigment epithelial windows and drusen: an animal model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1978 Nov;17(11):1059–1068. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hyman L. G., Lilienfeld A. M., Ferris F. L., 3rd, Fine S. L. Senile macular degeneration: a case-control study. Am J Epidemiol. 1983 Aug;118(2):213–227. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113629. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ishibashi T., Patterson R., Ohnishi Y., Inomata H., Ryan S. J. Formation of drusen in the human eye. Am J Ophthalmol. 1986 Mar 15;101(3):342–353. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(86)90830-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ishibashi T., Sorgente N., Patterson R., Ryan S. J. Pathogenesis of drusen in the primate. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1986 Feb;27(2):184–193. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kessler M. J., Berard J. D. A brief description of the Cayo Santiago rhesus monkey colony. P R Health Sci J. 1989 Apr;8(1):55–59. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Leibowitz H. M., Krueger D. E., Maunder L. R., Milton R. C., Kini M. M., Kahn H. A., Nickerson R. J., Pool J., Colton T. L., Ganley J. P. The Framingham Eye Study monograph: An ophthalmological and epidemiological study of cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and visual acuity in a general population of 2631 adults, 1973-1975. Surv Ophthalmol. 1980 May-Jun;24(Suppl):335–610. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Liu I. Y., White L., LaCroix A. Z. The association of age-related macular degeneration and lens opacities in the aged. Am J Public Health. 1989 Jun;79(6):765–769. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.6.765. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Maltzman B. A., Mulvihill M. N., Greenbaum A. Senile macular degeneration and risk factors: a case-control study. Ann Ophthalmol. 1979 Aug;11(8):1197–1201. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Marriott B. M., Roemer J., Sultana C. An overview of the food intake patterns of the Cayo Santiago rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): report of a pilot study. P R Health Sci J. 1989 Apr;8(1):87–94. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Newsome D. A., Swartz M., Leone N. C., Elston R. C., Miller E. Oral zinc in macular degeneration. Arch Ophthalmol. 1988 Feb;106(2):192–198. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1988.01060130202026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Stafford T. J., Anness S. H., Fine B. S. Spontaneous degenerative maculopathy in the monkey. Ophthalmology. 1984 May;91(5):513–521. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(84)34275-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Stafford T. J. Maculopathy in an elderly sub-human primate. Mod Probl Ophthalmol. 1974;12(0):214–219. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Tso M. O. Pathogenetic factors of aging macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 1985 May;92(5):628–635. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(85)33992-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Ulshafer R. J., Allen C. B., Nicolaissen B., Jr, Rubin M. L. Scanning electron microscopy of human drusen. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1987 Apr;28(4):683–689. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Ulshafer R. J., Engel H. M., Dawson W. W., Allen C. B., Kessler M. J. Macular degeneration in a community of rhesus monkeys. Ultrastructural observations. Retina. 1987 Fall;7(3):198–203. doi: 10.1097/00006982-198700730-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. West S. K., Rosenthal F. S., Bressler N. M., Bressler S. B., Munoz B., Fine S. L., Taylor H. R. Exposure to sunlight and other risk factors for age-related macular degeneration. Arch Ophthalmol. 1989 Jun;107(6):875–879. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1989.01070010897038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Young R. W. Solar radiation and age-related macular degeneration. Surv Ophthalmol. 1988 Jan-Feb;32(4):252–269. doi: 10.1016/0039-6257(88)90174-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of Ophthalmology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES