Age-related neuronal adaptations are known to help maintain function. This study aims to examine gross age-related retinal functional adaptations (using electroretinography) in young and middle aged C57BL/6J and Thy1-YFPh mice and to relate this to retinal structure (using optical coherence tomography). Electroretinography responses were generally larger in Thy1-YFPh mice than in C57BL/6J mice, with similar retinal layer thicknesses except for longer inner/outer photoreceptor segment in Thy1-YFPh mice. Relative to 3-month-old mice, 12-month-old mice showed reduced photoreceptor (C57BL/6J 84.0±2.5 %; Thy1-YFPh 80.2±5.2 %) and bipolar cell (C57BL/6J 75.6±2.3 %; Thy1-YFPh 68.1±5.5 %) function. There was relative preservation of ganglion cell function (C57BL/6J 79.7±3.7 %; Thy1-YFPh 91.7±5.0 %) with age, which was associated with increased b-wave (bipolar cell) sensitivities to light. Ganglion cell function was correlated with both b-wave amplitude and sensitivity. This study shows that there are normal age-related adaptations to preserve functional output. Different mouse strains may have varied age-related adaptation capacity and should be taken into consideration when examining age-related susceptibility to injury.

中文翻译：

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C57BL/6J 和 Thy1-YFPh 小鼠视网膜功能和结构与年龄相关的差异


众所周知，与年龄相关的神经元适应有助于维持功能。本研究旨在检查年轻和中年 C57BL/6J 和 Thy1-YFPh 小鼠与年龄相关的视网膜功能适应（使用视网膜电图检查），并将其与视网膜结构联系起来（使用光学相干断层扫描）。 Thy1-YFPh 小鼠的视网膜电图反应通常比 C57BL/6J 小鼠大，除了 Thy1-YFPh 小鼠的内/外光感受器段较长外，视网膜层厚度相似。与 3 个月大的小鼠相比，12 个月大的小鼠表现出光感受器（C57BL/6J 84.0±2.5%；Thy1-YFPh 80.2±5.2%）和双极细胞（C57BL/6J 75.6±2.3%；Thy1-YFPh）减少68.1±5.5%）功能。随着年龄的增长，神经节细胞功能相对保持（C57BL/6J 79.7±3.7%；Thy1-YFPh 91.7±5.0%），这与b波（双极细胞）对光的敏感性增加有关。神经节细胞功能与 b 波幅度和敏感性相关。这项研究表明，存在正常的与年龄相关的适应来保持功能输出。不同的小鼠品系可能具有不同的与年龄相关的适应能力，在检查与年龄相关的损伤易感性时应考虑到这一点。