Animal models of disease are paramount to understand
retinal development, the pathophysiology of
eye diseases, and to study neurodegeneration using optical coherence tomography (OCT) data. In this study, we present a comprehensive normative database of
retinal thickness in C57BL6/129S mice using spectral-domain OCT data. The database covers a longitudinal period of 16 months, from 1 to 16 months of age, and provides valuable insights into
retinal development and changes over time. Our findings reveal that total
retinal thickness decreases with age, while the thickness of individual
retinal layers and layer aggregates changes in different ways. For example, the outer plexiform layer (OPL), photoreceptor inner segments (ILS), and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) thickened over time, whereas other
retinal layers and layer aggregates became thinner. Additionally, we compare the
retinal thickness of wild-type (WT) mice with an animal model of
Alzheimer's disease (3 × Tg-AD) and show that the transgenic mice exhibit a decrease in total
retinal thickness compared to age-matched WT mice, with statistically significant differences observed at all evaluated ages. This normative database of
retinal thickness in mice will serve as a reference for future studies on
retinal changes in neurodegenerative and
eye diseases and will further our understanding of the pathophysiology of these conditions.