• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.610-613
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• 2010

An 8-year-old male dog weighing 7.9 kg was referred to us for evaluation of exophthalmos and corneal edema of the left eye, on which cataract surgery had been performed 3 years prior. On ophthalmic examination, the left eye showed an extremely high intraocular pressure (47 mmHg), with no menace response, dazzle reflex, or pupillary light reflex. The dog was treated with systemic and topical glaucoma medications. After treatment, corneal edema decreased but IOP did not return to within acceptable limits. Seventeen months later, the dog presented with hyphema, episcleral congestion, and corneal edema attributable to accidental trauma. The owner wished to maintain an attractive ocular appearance, and an intraocular silicone prosthesis (ISP) was thus inserted after the evisceration. Three months postoperatively, a corneal ulcer was detected, but this resolved successfully after prescription of appropriate medication. One year after surgery, no complications related to surgery were evident.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.804-811
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• 2013

Melanopsin is an opsin-like photopigment found in the small proportion of photosensitive ganglion cells of the retina. It is involved in the regulation of the synchronization of the circadian cycle as well as in the control of pupillary light reflex. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether melanopsin is also expressed in the other areas of the central visual system outside the retina. We have studied the distribution and morphology of neurons containing melanopsin in the mouse visual cortex with antibody immunocytochemistry. Melanopsin immunoreactivity was mostly present in neuronal soma, but not in nuclei. We found that melanopsin was present in a large subset of neurons within the adult mouse visual cortex with the highest density in layer II/III. In layer I of the visual cortex, melanopsin-immunoreactive (IR) neurons were rarely encountered. In the mouse visual cortex, the majority of the melanopsin-IR neurons consisted of round/oval cells, but was varied in morphology. Vertical fusiform and pyramidal cells were also rarely labeled with the anti-melanopsin antibody. The labeled cells did not show any distinctive distributional pattern. Some melanopsin-IR neurons in mouse visual cortex co-localized with nitricoxide synthase, calbindin and parvalbumin. Our data indicate that melanopsin is located in specific neurons and surprisingly widespread in visual cortex. This finding raises the need of the functional study of melanopsin in central visual areas outside the retina.