The aim of this review is to provide an overview of various retinal cell degeneration models in animal induced by chemicals (N-methyl-D-aspartate- and CoCl2-induced), autoimmune (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis), mechanical stress (optic nerve crush-induced, light-induced) and ischemia (transient retinal ischemia-induced). The target regions, pathology and proposed mechanism of each model are described in a comparative fashion. Animal models of retinal cell degeneration provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of the disease, and will facilitate the development of novel effective therapeutic drugs to treat retinal cell damage.
Keywords: CoCl2; EAE; NMDA; animal model; ischemia; light-induced; nerve crush; retinal cell degeneration.