Animal models of glaucoma

Abstract Animal models of glaucoma are still useful to better understand the pathogenesis of glaucoma, to decipher biochemical pathways and to evaluate drugs at a preclinical development. Many species have been used but due to practical and economical reasons, rodents have been the most studied. We will detail the methods used to mimic glaucoma with the most common techniques with an elevation of IOP or not. Then we will review the in vivo endpoints mostly used to assess IOP elevation and glaucoma damage. Rebound tonometry has been a great improvement in the IOP recording accuracy in rodents. Electrophysiology is a surrogate of retina and optic nerve function in these animals. The structure is mainly evaluated with optic disc photography, fluorescein angiography SLO and more recently with OCT. We will end this presentation with the pros and cones of different in vitro techniques mainly used to characterise glaucoma damage at the level of the retina and the optic nerve head.