Retinal glycogen content during ischaemia.

In the normal rabbit retina glycogen particles were only observed in the Müller cell. The glycogen was evenly distribution throughout the cytoplasm. The inner retina contained large amounts of Müller cell cytoplasm and consequently possessed substantial quantities of glycogen. The outer retina contained little Müller cell cytoplasm and only small amounts of Glycogen. Following total acute ischaemia induced by high intraocular pressure, the amount of glycogen in the retina fell rapidly so that by 45-60 min of ischaemia it was absent from the Müller cell. In the rabbit, ischaemia preferentially damaged the outer retina and especially the visual cells. This pattern of damage was thought to be a reflection of the amount of glycogen present in the different regions of the retina.