Comparative Ocular Anatomy in Commonly Used Laboratory Animals

Interspecies differences in ocular anatomy can alter the way a drug interacts locally within the eye, whether administered directly to the eye or systemically. It is therefore important to understand these differences and how they can influence the outcome and interpretation of safety or efficacy data for ocular therapeutics. The eye is a complex system of tissues integrated into a functional sense organ. Oriented toward the toxicologist or ocular researcher, this chapter will discuss the individual ocular tissues in commonly used laboratory animals in comparison with humans and will provide a basic understanding of ocular anatomy including quantitative comparisons when possible in these species. It will also act as a reference to the terminology that will be encountered in subsequent chapters.