Starting at P8, rd10 mice were given normal drinking water (control) or drinking water supplemented with 42 mM glucose, 10 mM pyruvate, or both. (A) At P50, mean photopic b-wave amplitude was significantly higher at 2 flash intensities in eyes of mice treated with glucose (n=10) compared with their corresponding control group (n=18). (B) Immunoblots of retinal homogenates of P50 rd10 mice treated with glucose and their corresponding controls probed with antibodies directed against S or M cone opsin. (C) Densitometry of blots in (B) showed no difference in S opsin/Actin ratio or M opsin/Actin ratio between glucose-treated versus control rd10 mice. (D) Mean photopic b-wave amplitude was significantly higher only at the highest flash intensity in eyes of P50 rd10 mice treated with pyruvate (n=14) compared with their corresponding control group (n=21). (E) Immunoblots of retinal homogenates of P50 rd10 mice treated with pyruvate and their corresponding controls probed with antibodies directed against S or M cone opsin. (F) Densitometry of blots in (E) showed no difference in S opsin/Actin ratio or M opsin/Actin ratio between retinas from pyruvate-treated versus control rd10 mice. (G) Mean photopic b-wave amplitude was significantly higher at 3 flash intensities in eyes of P50 rd10 mice treated with 10 mM pyruvate and 42 mM glucose (n=26) compared with their corresponding control group (n=36). Mean photopic b-wave amplitude of C57BL/6 mice at P50 are also shown. (H) Immunoblots of retinal homogenates of P50 rd10 mice treated with pyruvate and glucose and their corresponding controls probed with antibodies directed against S or M cone opsin. (I) Densitometry of blots in (H) showed a significant increase in S opsin/Actin ratio (0.0399), but not M opsin/Actin ratio between retinas from rd10 mice treated with 10 mM pyruvate and 42 mM glucose versus control rd10 mice.
* p ≤ 0.05, *** p ≤ 0.001, **** p ≤ 0.0001 by Mann-Whitney test.