ABSTRACT
Since the first publication in 1993 by Chang et al.1 using biochemical and immunohistochemical methods to document apoptosis in several mice models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) — a hereditary blinding disease — apoptosis has been shown to be involved in many neurodegenerative diseases involving retinal neurons such as agerelated macular degeneration,2 glaucoma,3 traumatic retinal detachment,4 retinoblastoma,5 and retinal degeneration in pathologic myopia.2 Experimentally, apoptosis has been demonstrated in the retinas in photic retinopathy in rats and mice,6 retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury,7 retinal excitotoxicity,8 optic nerve crush injury,9,10 optic nerve transection,11 and glaucoma,10,12 as well as RP mimicking animals such as the Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rats,13 and the rd mice.1 Hence, apoptosis may be the common pathway of neuronal degeneration in the retina in many of these degenerative diseases that lead to blindness, and the apoptotic pathway becomes a target of exploration for new therapeutic approaches in preserving retinal neurons.
