Blood vascular abnormalities in the degenerative mouse retina (C57BL/6J-rd le).

The authors have used a light microscopic horseradish peroxidase technique to demonstrate the arborization of blood vessels in mice homozygous for retinal degeneration and their normal heterozygous littermates. The results indicate a paucity of blood vessels in the homozygous animals as early as 14 days of postnatal age. The blood vessel deficiency at this early time coincides with degeneration of the photoreceptor cells and occurs at the approximate age when blood vessels in the normal mouse retina have reached maturity. After photoreceptor degeneration is complete, total blood vessel length per unit area continues to decrease from about one half of normal at the earlier ages to less than one third the amount at 1 yr and after.