Fig. 1.

Protection of retinal photoreceptor cells with MTP + TAM + BRM pretreatment. A single intraperitoneal injection of MTP + TAM + BRM protects retinal photoreceptor cells when given 0.5–2 hours prior to BLE (0.5 hours at 25 klux, 6500 K light). (A) Thickness of the ONL. ONL thickness was measured from in vivo OCT images (see Supplemental Fig. 1 for illustration) 500 µm from the ONH. Treatment with MTP + TAM + BRM prevented ONL thinning completely when given 0.5 hour prior to BLE (control versus MTP + TAM + BRM, 0.5 hour; P = 0.18) and partially when injected 2 hours prior to BLE, but not when these drugs were given 4 hours prior to BLE. (B and C) Treatment with MTP + TAM + BRM prevents retinal dysfunction as assessed by measuring green light (B) and blue light (C) photopic ERG responses. (D and E) Retinal damage area analysis. The damaged area was measured from M-opsin and S-opsin stained retinal whole-mount images (see Supplemental Fig. 2 for examples from each group). Statistical analyses were performed with two-way ANOVA (OCT), with repeated-measures two-way ANOVA (ERGs), or with the Kruskal-Wallis test (damaged area analyses). ANOVAs were followed with Tukey’s post hoc test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was followed with Dunn’s post hoc test. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences compared with control mice (**P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001) and pound signs compared with vehicle-treated mice (^#P < 0.05; ^##P < 0.01; ^###P < 0.001). Group sizes in all analyses were as follows: intact control, n = 9; MTP + TAM + BRM 0.5 hour, n = 8; MTP + TAM + BRM 2 hours, n = 7; MTP + TAM + BRM 4 hours, n = 6; and vehicle, n = 10. Data are presented as means ± S.E.M. ANOVA, analysis of variance.