To distinguish age-related changes in hematology and clinical chemistry values from those resulting from disease, hematology, and clinical chemistry values of healthy, age-matched Beagle dogs 3 to 14 years of age were analyzed. Serum potassium, total protein and globulin concentration, and lactic dehydrogenase activity increased with age, while urea nitrogen, creatinine and albumin concentration, and gamma-glutamyl transferase activity decreased. The 12-year-old group had some distinct differences from the other age groups: glucose concentration was lower, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activity and triglyceride concentration were higher. No significant age-related differences were found in the hematology parameters analyzed. This report extends the documented, age-related changes in normal Beagle dogs to 14 years of age. The age-related changes in organ-specific serum chemistries such as urea nitrogen and creatinine (kidney), and alanine aminotransferase (liver) noted here suggest that 12 years may be a pivotal age for determining longevity in the Beagle dog.

Like the macaque, the squirrel monkey can be considered a useful primate model for experimental CNV investigations, while additionally offering certain species-specific advantages. Diffuse FVT permit studies of antiangiogenic therapies in areas distant from laser photocoagulative trauma sites.

Although PDT is effective in closing the choroidal neovascularization in FVT, this technique was ineffective in occluding anastomotic vessels and their associated tributaries within the mid- to proximal retina. Various factors (vascular diameter, composition, blood flow, orientation) may contribute to continued anastomotic patency. By convention, such vessels would typically be defined as chorioretinal anastomoses (CRAs); however, continuing studies suggest the possibility that these neovessels constitute dual-origin hybrids. Regardless of origin, viable anastomoses provide one potential mechanism for revascularization to occur after PDT and may help to explain why CRAs are considered a poor prognostic sign in patients with AMD.