Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Photoreceptor cell death causes sudden blindness in dogs with SARDS
By Miller, P E et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·1998·Department of Surgical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Photoreceptor cell death by apoptosis in dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old dog diagnosed with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS) was found to have significant cell death in the retina, which was linked to the loss of vision. Researchers examined the retinas of this dog and two others with SARDS, discovering that the degree of cell death increased with the duration of vision loss. Unlike healthy dogs, the affected dogs showed many dying cells in their retinas, but inflammation was not a major factor. Understanding this process could lead to new treatments aimed at preserving vision in dogs with SARDS by preventing cell death.
People also search for: dog sudden vision loss · SARDS in dogs · treatment for dog retinal degeneration
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of apoptosis in retinal photoreceptor degeneration in dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS). SAMPLE POPULATION: Retinas from 3 dogs with SARDS and from 2 clinically normal adult dogs. PROCEDURE: Apoptosis was identified by in situ end-labeling and observation of characteristic morphologic changes by light microscopy. RESULTS: The degree of photoreceptor degeneration varied with duration of vision loss in SARDS-affected eyes. The retina of all 3 SARDS-affected eyes had numerous (34, 61, and 70) apoptotic nuclei per section that were overwhelmingly located in the outer nuclear layer. Apoptotic nuclei were not detected, or were rare in similarly sized retinal sections from normal dogs. Inflammation was not an important feature of SARDS. CONCLUSIONS: Apoptosis appears to be at least 1 mechanism of photoreceptor cell death in dogs with SARDS. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Because apoptosis appears to be a final common pathway in many retinal degeneration syndromes, future treatment strategies that control apoptosis in other diseases may be applicable to dogs with SARDS. Halting this pathway may allow some photoreceptors to survive and, perhaps, preserve vision.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9492927/