Summary of animal models used in studies of diabetic corneal epithelial complications
| Model | Authors, year | Phenotype | Advantages | Drawbacks |
| STZ mice/rats | Yamamoto et al, 20181 Huang et al, 20163 Zhang et al, 201823 Atiba et al, 201528 Yang et al, 201416 He et al, 201757 Li et al, 201750 Morishige et al, 201751 Sun et al, 201558 | Type I diabetes | Rapid onset of hyperglycemia. Cost-effective and time efficient. Development of significant diabetic cornea neuropathy, even in the absence of an external insult. | Prone to adverse events, including significant weight loss, bladder dysfunction, poor general health and respiratory distress, resulting in high mortality rates. The cornea re-epithelialization response after injury altered by pre-existing diabetic cornea neuropathy and cornea inflammation. |
| DIO mice | Kneer et al, 20182 Yan et al, 20162 43 | Type II diabetes | Established model for studies on obesity-related complications. | Later onset and milder sustained hyperglycemia as compared with STZ mice. |
| db/db mice | Dai et al, 201511 | Type II diabetes. Hyperphagia with obesity. | Phenotype similar to humans with sustained severe hyperglycemia and diabetic neuropathy. | The phenotype does not model the clinical manifestations of diabetic retinopathy completely. |
| OLETF rats | Nagai et al, 201013 | Type II diabetes with mild obesity. | A long-established model in translational research for diabetes. | Later onset of hyperglycemia compared with STZ mice. Augmented immune response, which may affect studies on altered immunity in patients with diabetes. |
DIO, diet-induced obesity; OLETF, Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty; STZ, streptozocin.