Study of the production, composition and outflow of intraocular media in standard and black Moor goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Abstract

The goldfish is considered a good experimental model for vision research because it presents an intermediate condition between fish with an underdeveloped visual system and those in which vision is the dominant sense. The production, composition and outflow of the ocular media in this species, which are fundamental to image formation on the retina, are however poorly understood. This project aims to study the drainage of aqueous humor and the composition of the aqueous and vitreous humors in two strains of goldfish. The standard goldfish has normal ocular development, whereas the black Moor goldfish has buphthalmia, a condition often found in glaucomatous eyes in mammals. For this purpose, biochemistry, histological and molecular biology techniques will be used. Initially, the region of production and drainage of aqueous humor will be assessed by electron microscopy and light microscopy. Intraocular pressure will be measured by tonometry. The drainage of the intraocular fluids will be studied by intraocular injection of dyes and subsequent histological processing at fixed intervals post-injection (15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h, 4 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h). Electrophoresis and immunoblotting will be used to determine the individual components of the aqueous and vitreous in both strains, which will later be compared with those found in humans. (AU)