Background adaptation in a rat model of retinopathy of prematurity.

Low dark-adapted, scotopic retinal and visual sensitivity in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) could be due to disease of the inner retina, or the recently described rod photoreceptor abnormalities. Receptoral disease decreases catch of quanta from both test flashes and steady background lights; increment threshold functions are shifted up and right. In diseases with normal receptors but low retinal sensitivity due to abnormal post receptoral processing, the increment threshold functions are shifted up with no horizontal translation. Herein we test the hypothesis that the rod photoreceptors are the site of ROP disease which causes low dark adapted b-wave sensitivity. The effect of steady background light on the ERG b-wave in a rat model of ROP is studied. ERG stimulus/response functions were obtained using full-field stimuli in the dark-adapted state, and in the presence of a steady background light. In each adaptation condition, log sigma, the test flash intensity that produced a half-maximum b-wave amplitude, was calculated. In pilot experiments, the background light selected had raised log sigma about a log unit in controls. In dark-adapted ROP rats log sigma was significantly higher, 0.35 log unit, than in controls. In the presence of the background light, log sigma in ROP and control rats did not differ significantly indicating a relative shift, up and right, of the increment sensitivity function for the less sensitive ROP rats. The effect of the background light is consistent with receptoral disease causing low dark adapted b-wave sensitivity in ROP rats.