The effect of flashed light on the ultrastructure of the retinal photoreceptor cells in rabbit: a transmission electron microscope study

Abstract

The effects of light exposure on the retina have been carefully considered in recent years. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of flashed light with low and high intensity on the photoreceptor layer of rabbit. Fifteen adult male New Zealand White rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups: a control group, experimental group I (exposed to 60 W of flashed light 5 times), and experimental group II (exposed to 1000 W of flashed light 5 times). The retinas of the eyes were removed and studied by transmission electron microscope. The photoreceptor layer damage in experimental group II contained outer segment loss, vacuolated and disorganized mitochondria, vacuolization, cell swelling, and pyknotic, karyorrhexis, and karyolytic nuclei. The results suggested that high-intensity flashed light (1000 W) caused more photoreceptor layer damage than low-intensity light (60 W).