Rodent Models of Diabetic Retinopathy as a Useful Research Tool to Study Neurovascular Cross-Talk

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Diabetic retinopathy is a progressive complication of diabetes leading to vision loss. About one in three diabetic patients has some degree of diabetic retinopathy. These ocular complications cause emotional distress, reduce the person’s quality of life, and generate huge costs associated with the treatment. The costs are not limited to the provision of ophthalmological care but also relate to psychological or psychiatric care. Understanding the mechanisms leading to the development of diabetic retinopathy is crucial to delay the progression of the disease. Animal models are helpful tools for studying the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy and for testing the efficiency of new therapeutic strategies. This review focuses on the rodent models commonly applied in laboratory practice and, importantly, includes suggestions for their application and explains the disadvantages of each model. In addition, the overview is enriched with the current protocols dedicated to the main chemically induced models used in research in the last three years, together with detailed descriptions of the amounts and the frequencies of administered doses of these chemical substances. We hope that this compendium will be useful in selecting the appropriate model for the analyzed aspect of diabetic retinopathy. ABSTRACT: Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases leading to dysfunction of various organs, including ocular complications such as diabetic retinopathy (DR). Nowadays, DR treatments involve invasive options and are applied at the sight-threatening stages of DR. It is important to investigate noninvasive or pharmacological methods enabling the disease to be controlled at the early stage or to prevent ocular complications. Animal models are useful in DR laboratory practice, and this review is dedicated to them. The first part describes the characteristics of the most commonly used genetic rodent models in DR research. The second part focuses on the main chemically induced models. The authors pay particular attention to the streptozotocin model. Moreover, this section is enriched with practical aspects and contains the current protocols used in research in the last three years. Both parts include suggestions on which aspect of DR can be tested using a given model and the disadvantages of each model. Although animal models show huge variability, they are still an important and irreplaceable research tool. Note that the choice of a research model should be thoroughly considered and dependent on the aspect of the disease to be analyzed.