Design, methodology, and preliminary results of the non-human primates eye study

Abstract Purpose To describe the normative profile of ophthalmic parameters in a healthy cynomolgus monkey colony, and to identify the characteristic of the spontaneous ocular disease non-human primates (NHP) models. Methods The NHP eye study was a cross-sectional on-site ocular examination with about 1,000 macaques held in Guangdong Province, southeastern China. The NHPs (Macaca fascicularis, cynomolgus) in this study included middle-aged individuals with a high prevalence of the ocular disease. The NHP eye study (NHPES) performed the information including systematic data and ocular data. Ocular examination included measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP), anterior segment- optical coherence tomography (OCT), slit-lamp examination, fundus photography, autorefraction, electroretinography, etc. Ocular diseases included measurement of refractive error, anisometropia, cataract, pterygium, etc. Results A total of 1148 subjects were included and completed the ocular examination. The average age was 16.4 ± 4.93 years. Compared to the male participants, the females in the NHPES had shorter axial length and the mean Average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness (except for the nasal quadrants). The mean IOP, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, axial length, central corneal thickness, choroid thickness and other parameters were similar in each group. Conclusion The NHPES is a unique and high-quality study, this is the first large macaque monkey cohort study focusing on ocular assessment along with comprehensive evaluation. Results from the NHPES will provide important information about the normal range of ophthalmic measurements in NHP.