Background: Visual recovery is an established but poorly studied phenomenon in glaucoma.
Objective: To provide insights into functional recovery of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with a view to providing information on the development of forms of treatment that improve RGC function after injury.
Method: A model of recoverable RGC function in the mouse eye, induced by short-term elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP).
Results: The RGCs manifest near complete functional recovery after a prolonged period of dysfunction following acute IOP elevation. Increasing age and a high fat diet were subsequently found to impair recovery, whereas exercise substantially improved recovery such that older mice recovered in a similar way to young mice.
Conclusion: Injured RGCs have the capacity to restore function after periods of functional impairment. Therapies that specifically target injured RGCs and enhance their capacity to recover function may provide a new approach for treating glaucoma.
Keywords: Aging; Mouse models; Retinal ganglion cell; Vision; Visual field.