Abstract: Objective To establish and evaluate a murine model of autoimmune retinopathy. Design Animal experiment. Participants Eighteen C57BL/6J mice of 7~9 weeks old as experimental group and another six age-matched C57BL/6J mice as control group. Methods Mice in experimental group were immunized with recombinant mouse recoverin (200 μg/mouse) in complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA), while mice in control group were immunized with CFA-PBS. All of them were injected with 200 ng of pertussis toxin (PTX) day 0 and day 2 after immunization to facilitate cellular infiltration of the retina. The main indexes of the model were evaluated by western blotting, multi-modality imaging and pathological methods. Main Outcome Measures Presence of serum recoverin antibody, retinal findings and pathology were shown by slit-lamp examination, fundus photography, OCT, FFA, ERG, as well as HE staining of retinal cryosection at weeks 3, 6 and 8 after immunization. Results Presence of yellow fleck lesions in the deep retina was observed from 6 weeks and significantly progressed at weeks 8 post-immunization of recoverin. Damage of outer retinal elements on OCT, reduced amplitude of ERG response and leakage of fluorescent dyes were shown at weeks 6 or/and 8 post-immunization. Intrusion of inflammatory cells into retinal tissue with various degree were also found on the cryo-section of weeks 6 and 8 AIR model. The AIR model was tested positive for serum recoverin antibody from weeks 3 post-immunization and keep high level at weeks 6 and 8 after immunization. Conclusions A murine AIR model immunized with recoverin protein was successfully established and evaluated in terms of retinal features, pathological changes and presence of serum recoverin antibody. Its similarity with AIR patients made it a good tool for investigating the pathogenesis of the disease. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2023, 32: 142-147)

Key words: autoimmune retinopathy, murine model, recoverin antibody, anti-retinal antibody