Glaucoma and The Canine Models

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in humans and dogs and can be primary or secondary. What they all have in common is elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), leading to loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons, with degeneration of the optic nerve head (ONH) and retina. The most common type of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), in which the outflow of aqueous humor (AqH) is impaired, resulting in elevated IOP. Currently, the only proven clinical treatment strategy is to prevent further visual field loss by reducing IOP to a target level. However, some patients are still blind due to glaucoma, so more effective treatment modalities must be developed to produce better IOP results to meet clinical needs. The canine glaucoma model has no congenital anomalies and genome sequence availability because the disease is inherited spontaneously. IOP elevation in the canine glaucoma model is a chronic long-term process that enables long-term drug efficacy monitoring. Canines have large eyes that can be studied using the same tools as human glaucoma patients. These factors determine that the canine spontaneous glaucoma model has unique advantages in glaucoma research. It is an excellent tool for rapidly developing and translating novel medical and surgical therapies from animals to human patients.

Fig. 1. Cross-sectional anatomy (A) and aqueous humor drainage routes (B) in the canine eye. (Komáromy AM, et al., 2019)

Service Overview

Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is considered a significant risk factor for glaucomatous neuropathy. A number of inducible animal models of glaucoma have been successfully used to test different therapeutic strategies and assess the molecular mechanisms by which chronic IOP elevation leads to RGC damage. However, a significant obstacle in many of these models is the very high IOP immediately following glaucoma-induced surgery. The inability to maintain elevated IOP for more than several months and the eye's smaller size than the human eye present problems effectively translating treatment options to human patients. Therefore, more innovative tools are needed to assess relevant information about structural and molecular events during glaucoma disease development. As a comprehensive ocular disease model provider, Ace Therapeutics not only provides traditional rodent glaucoma models but also offers canine spontaneous genetic glaucoma models. These models provide our customers with an exceptional opportunity. The data can be collected using the same instruments used in human glaucoma patients.

Ace Therapeutics provides a series of canine spontaneous genetic glaucoma models to help you understand understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments. Our canine spontaneous genetic glaucoma models include, but are not limited to:

Tab.1. Ace Therapeutics' canine models of glaucoma.

Importantly, in order to accurately characterize the biological function of canine spontaneous glaucoma models and test the efficacy of potential candidate compounds in reducing glaucoma progression, Ace Therapeutics' ophthalmic pharmacologists also develop the following endpoint evaluation services, including but not limited to:

• Intraocular pressure measurement.
• Fundus photography (color).
• Ocular coherence tomography (OCT).
• Optomotry.
• Pathological analyses and imaging.
• Qualitative and quantitative analysis of retinal ganglion cells.
• Histological analysis.
• Immunohistochemical analysis.
• Molecular biology analysis.

Ace Therapeutics aims to provide a powerful tool to help customers deeply understand the molecular mechanism of glaucoma pathology. If you are interested in our services or need more detailed information, please feel free to contact us. Our experienced scientists are ready to help you!

References

1. Komáromy AM, Bras D, Esson DW, et al. The future of canine glaucoma therapy. Vet Ophthalmol. 2019, 22(5):726-740.
2. Graham KL, McCowan C, White A. Genetic and Biochemical Biomarkers in Canine Glaucoma. Vet Pathol. 2017, 54(2):194-203.
3. Grozdanic SD, Kecova H, Harper MM, et al. Functional and structural changes in a canine model of hereditary primary angle-closure glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010, 51(1):255-63.

• Customized Canine Models of Inherited Retinal Degeneration
• Customized Canine Models of Corneal Fibrosis
• Customized Canine Models of Dry Eye Disease

• * Name:
• Phone:
• * Email:
• * Services or Products of Interest:
• Project Description:
• * All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.

  * Tick to confirm the Research Use Only (RUO) statement.

• Submit