Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

The elephant retina examined across a range of ages

James Freed, Saskia Joyce, Rachel Whalley, Edward Purse, Thomas L Ingram, Lisa Yon, View ORCID ProfileLisa Chakrabarti
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.20.427452
James Freed
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Saskia Joyce
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rachel Whalley
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Edward Purse
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Thomas L Ingram
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lisa Yon
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lisa Chakrabarti
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK
2MRC Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Lisa Chakrabarti
  • For correspondence: lisa.chakrabarti@nottingham.ac.uk
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The effect of aging in the human retina has been well documented, as have the signs of age-related retinal disease. Comparative studies in animals allow us to further investigate how the retina ages in different species. The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) has a retina comparable to other mammalian species, but with some reported distinctive differences in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) distribution and type. This is a first survey of the retina of Loxodonta africana from individuals aged 2 months to 32 years old. Gross examination, H&E staining and cell counts were used to compare calves (0-5 years), juveniles (6-10 years), sub-adults (11-20 years) and adults (>20 years). Dorsal-ventral eye diameter was shown to be significantly greater with age, whilst no significant changes in photoreceptor number were found. Changes in retinal thickness differed from past findings in elephants and humans, with thickness decreasing, then increasing in adults. Various morphological differences were evident in the samples including the presence of nuclei in the outer plexiform layer (OPL), degeneration of the inner plexiform layer (IPL), interruptions in nuclei columns of the outer nuclear layer (ONL), and larger unidentified cells within the inner nuclear layer (INL). These are initial observations provide some baseline information for a species where this range of samples has not been described previously.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted January 21, 2021.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The elephant retina examined across a range of ages
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
The elephant retina examined across a range of ages
James Freed, Saskia Joyce, Rachel Whalley, Edward Purse, Thomas L Ingram, Lisa Yon, Lisa Chakrabarti
bioRxiv 2021.01.20.427452; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.20.427452
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
The elephant retina examined across a range of ages
James Freed, Saskia Joyce, Rachel Whalley, Edward Purse, Thomas L Ingram, Lisa Yon, Lisa Chakrabarti
bioRxiv 2021.01.20.427452; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.20.427452

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Zoology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4377)
  • Biochemistry (9568)
  • Bioengineering (7080)
  • Bioinformatics (24813)
  • Biophysics (12594)
  • Cancer Biology (9940)
  • Cell Biology (14310)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7940)
  • Ecology (12090)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15971)
  • Genetics (10911)
  • Genomics (14721)
  • Immunology (9856)
  • Microbiology (23611)
  • Molecular Biology (9468)
  • Neuroscience (50791)
  • Paleontology (369)
  • Pathology (1537)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2677)
  • Physiology (4004)
  • Plant Biology (8651)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1507)
  • Synthetic Biology (2388)
  • Systems Biology (6419)
  • Zoology (1345)