Pupillary light reflex deficits in a canine model of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

Late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN2) is a hereditary neurological disorder characterized by progressive retinal degeneration and vision loss, cognitive and motor decline, seizures, and pronounced brain atrophy. The progressive loss of neurological functions eventually leads to death, usually by the early teenage years. Utilizing a canine model of CLN2, therapeutic studies to inhibit the brain and retinal degenerations are currently under way. Using this dog model, studies were undertaken to compare quantitative assessments of the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and electroretinography (ERG) as tools for evaluating the effects of the disease on retinal function. The PLR and ERG were recorded in normal and CLN2-affected Dachshunds at 2 month intervals between the ages of 4 and 10 months. Using custom instrumentation for quantitative PLR assessments, a series of white light stimuli of varying intensity was used to elicit pupil constriction, and pupil images were recorded using continuous infrared illumination and an infrared-sensitive camera. Electroretinography was used to evaluate retinal function in the same dogs. As the disease progressed, affected dogs exhibited progressive and profound declines in ERG amplitudes under both scotopic and photopic conditions. With low intensity light stimuli, CLN2 was also accompanied by progressive deficits in the PLR. Changes in the PLR to dim light stimuli included significant deficits in latency, constriction velocity, constriction amplitude, and redilation velocity. However, despite the almost complete loss of detectable ERG responses by disease end stage, the PLR to bright stimuli was well preserved throughout the disease progression. These findings demonstrate that the PLR is much more sensitive than the ERG in detecting residual retinal function in animal models of retinal degenerative disease. The preservation of the PLR in dogs with profoundly depressed ERGs correlates with a preservation of visually-mediated behavior even late in the disease progression. Quantitative analysis of the PLR has potential as a biomarker in animal models of retinal degenerative diseases and in evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic interventions in preserving retinal function.