A porcine commotio retinae model for preclinical evaluation of posttraumatic photoreceptor degeneration
Amaral, Juan Bunea, Irina Maminishkis, Arvydas Campos, Maria M Barone, Francesca Gupta, Rohan Farnoodian, Mitra Newport, Jonathan Phillips, M Joseph Sharma, Ruchi
Amaral, Juan
Bunea, Irina
Maminishkis, Arvydas
Campos, Maria M
Barone, Francesca
Gupta, Rohan
Farnoodian, Mitra
Newport, Jonathan
Phillips, M Joseph
Sharma, Ruchi
Abstract
Commotio retinae (CR) resulting from retinal trauma can lead to focal photoreceptor degeneration and permanent vision loss. Currently no therapies exist for CR-induced retinal degeneration, in part because of the lack of a large-animal model that replicates human injury pathology and allows testing of therapeutics. Severe CR is clinically characterized by subretinal fluid and focal photoreceptor outer nuclear layer thinning. To develop a porcine CR model, we developed a laser-guided projectile apparatus and optimized projectile delivery procedure using porcine cadaveric eyes embedded in a 3D-printed porcine skull. Scleral and corneal impacts resulted in retinal damage consistent with patient injury, but corneal impacts also led to cornea damage and opacification, which precluded follow-up imaging. In live porcine eyes, scleral impacts of 39.5 m/s induced transient blood-retinal barrier breakdown evidenced by subretinal fluid on optical coherence tomography (OCT), leakage observed on fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, and transient photoreceptor outer segment disruption seen by OCT and multifocal electroretinography. Impacts above 39.5 m/s induced longer-lasting photoreceptor degeneration but only transient blood-retinal barrier breakdown. This porcine model, combined with clinically relevant imaging and diagnostic modalities, will be valuable for testing the safety and efficacy of therapies to restore vision after focal photoreceptor degeneration.
MIDER Authors
Date
2026-01-13
Type
Article
Subject
Stem cell transplantation, Neurosciences, Ophthalmology, Stem cell transplantation
Collections
Citation
Amaral J, Bunea I, Maminishkis A, Campos MM, Barone F, Gupta R, Farnoodian M, Newport J, Phillips MJ, Sharma R, Gamm DM, Bharti K, Blanch RJ. A porcine commotio retinae model for preclinical evaluation of posttraumatic photoreceptor degeneration. JCI Insight. 2026 Jan 13;11(4):e192799. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.192799.
Journal / Source Title
JCI insight
DOI
10.1172/jci.insight.192799
PMID
41528801
Publisher
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Publisher’s URL
https://insight.jci.org/