Applanation tonometry and ophthalmoscopy of

the vervet monkey (Cercopithecus ethiops)

in phencyclidine catalepsia
Ernst Bdrdny

Phencyclidine, 1 to 1.2 mg. per kilogram body weight, is recommended for examination of
the eyes in untamed monkeys. Applanation tonometry with the Mackay-Marg machine was
performed in 109 vervets (Cercopithecus ethiops), mainly old males, contributing a total of
208 eyes without signs of present or past inflammation or trauma. A mean pressure of 17.7
mm. Hg was found. The detailed distribution of pressures is given in Table I. The highest,
pressure recorded was 30 mm. Hg, the lowest 12 mm. Hg. In 152 of the eyes not suspected
of glaucoma, the facility of outflow in vivo was subsequently measured with a perfusion
technique. There was no correlation between facility values and tonometric pressure.

DL 'uring work involving the screening of

large numbers of monkeys for glaucoma,
it was necessary to examine the untamed
animals with the slit lamp, ophthalmo-
scope, and tonometer. Some form of tran-
quilization or anesthesia evidently was
necessary; it had to be convenient, safe,
and without much effect on those auto-
nomic functions which determine eye pres-
sure. Light barbiturate anesthesia was not
suitable, for it produced nystagmus and
turning of the eyes inward and upward.
Large doses of barbiturate markedly lower
From the Department of Physiology, School of
Medicine, Makerere College, Kampala, Uganda,
and the Department of Pharmacology, Uni-
versity of Uppsala, Sweden (permanent address
of author).
This study was supported by Research Grants
B-3060 and NB-03637 from the Institute of
Neurological Diseases and Blindness, United
States Public Health Service, Bethesda, Md.
322
intraocular pressure, probably through an
action on aqueous secretion.1 Moreover, the
pupil is small in this anesthesia. Light
ether anesthesia does not depress intra-
ocular pressure, but in order for a steady
state to develop, the anesthesia should be
reasonably even for about 15 minutes and
this is difficult to attain without consider-
able individual attention.
Recent reports indicate that phencycli-
dine has remarkable calming properties
in several monkey species.2'3 Since it has
very little action on visceral functions, in-
cluding the circulation,4 it was tried for
the present purpose and proved to be ex-
cellent. It produces a cataleptoid state in
which the monkey not only is nonaggressive,
but also can be placed in various positions
without making attempts to right itself.
The vervets (Cercopithecus ethiops) were
mainly big males and very fierce. They
were either injected while wrapped in a
net or transferred to squeeze cages for in-

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 Volume Applanation tonometry and ophthalmoscopy of vervet monkey 323
Numbe

jection. Phencyclidine hydrochloride was finished. If necessary, another series was

made up as 2 mg. per milliliter solution made after a rest of about a minute. The
in saline and given intramuscularly at a lowest of at least 3 valid readings was
dose of 1 to 1.2 mg. per kilogram. It is not used. Tonometry was done on 109 monkeys,
necessary to weigh the animals very ac- 10 of them contributing only one eye. Only
curately; the dose does not appear to be eyes with unilateral cataract, aqueous flare,
critical. or other evidence of present or past inflam-
Five to ten minutes after the injection, mation or trauma were discarded. The
the monkey can be safely handled without average pressure was 17.7 mm. Hg, and
gloves and its whiskers and eyebrows can the distribution of pressures recorded on
be clipped (very necessary if ophthalmos- one occasion in each eye is seen in Table
copy at short range is intended and the I. The readings were taken during the
observer is ticklish!). He can now be put interval from 8:30 A.M. to about 10 P.M.,
on the table in various positions without so that diurnal variations of pressure were
restraint and examined at ease. The included in the variability. The distribution
cataleptoid state lasts for about 45 minutes of differences between the two eyes is seen
at the dose indicated. After some hours, in Table II.
the animals seem to be completely normal. Only in a very few cases do the tabulated
There was no death among more than 100 values derive from anything but the first
successive monkeys, several of them very occasion of tonometry in the animal. Re-
old and decrepit. tonometry after a day or so was done if
At the height of drug action, the eyes the first occasion gave technically unac-
are directed straight ahead. There is no ceptable curves for any one of the two
nystagmus but frequent small bursts of eyes. In these cases the retonometry values
tremor of the eyes. The pupil is wide but
reacts to light. Sometimes a hippus can be
seen. Ophthalmoscopy is very easy, and Table I. Distribution of tonometric eye
fine detail can be studied since the eye is pressures in 208 vervet eyes under
quite steady between the bursts of tremor. phencyclidine
For tonometry, topical anesthesia is
necessary because the corneal reflex is quite No. of eyes
under suspicion
active. In the present study, one drop of (opposite eye ex-
2 per cent lidocaine (Xylocaine) was used. cluded because
The eyes of these monkeys are deep set and of evidence of
Pressure No. of trauma or
the lid reflex is active. It is, therefore, often (mm. Hg) eyes inflammation)
necessary to use some force to retract the 12 4 1
lids. The eyelids in monkeys are often some- 13 7
what greasy and slippery, and it was found 14 13
15 28
to be a great help in increasing friction to 16 24 1
wind die distal phalanx of the thumb and 17 25 1
forefinger used for parting the lids with 18 40 2
adhesive plaster. 19 14 2
20 24
Mackay-Marg tonometry was done with 21 9
the monkeys lying on their sides, with the 22 8 1
23 4 1
hand carrying the tonometer probe being 24 4
steadied on the table. Following a sugges- 25 1
tion by Dr. Robert Moses, a series of 10 to 26 2
27 0
20 applications of the probe was made in 28 0
very quick succession, without inspection 29 0
of the paper strip, until the series was 30 1 1

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 324 Bdrdny
Table II. Distribution of tonometric
pressure differences between the two
eyes of 99 vervets
Pressure difference
(mm. Hg) No. of animals
0 23
1 27
2 27
3 12
4 6
5 1
6 1
7 2
are the ones listed. A second and third
tonometry was also done in several cases
of exceptionally high eye pressure. Some-
times the repeat tonometry gave lower
values. In all these cases, the first value
obtained is tabulated.
In at least 5 of the animals, a suspicion
of simple glaucoma was present. In 3 of
them, the highest tonometry values were
26, 26, and 24 mm. Hg, respectively. In 2,
the highest pressure was 22, but the discs
looked suspiciously excavated. These mon-
keys were not perfused but kept for further
study.
Of the remaining tonometrized eyes, 152
were subjected to determination of facility
in the untreated state by the two-pressure
infusion technique described elsewhere.5
This was done in deep pentobarbital anes-
thesia, one to several days after the tonom-
etry experiment. There was no discernible
correlation between tonometric pressure
under phencyclidine and facility of out-
flow under barbiturate anesthesia. Even in
the three animals in which tonometric pres-
sure differed by 6 to 7 mm. Hg between
the two eyes, there was no corresponding
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In vestigatiDe Ophthalmology
August. 1963
difference in facility. A similar lack of cor-
relation in normal eyes is evident in
Grant's" tonographic data for nonglaucoma-
tous humans.
Whether the pressures recorded under
phencyclidine are the physiologic ones is
an open question. The calibration of the
Mackay-Marg tonometer was checked in
the prescribed manner for each animal,
and, at the end of the investigation, the
instrument was tested on a thin rubber
balloon filled with water under known
pressure. It gave a correct pressure read-
ing. Thus, a systematic instrumental error
is improbable. A pharmacologic one is not
excluded.
I wish to thank Dr. John Lock of the Depart-
ment of Pharmacology at Makerere for drawing
my attention to phencyclidine. The sample used
was a gift to Dr. Lock from Parke, Davis & Co.,
England.
REFERENCES
1. Barany, E. H., and Rohen, J. W.: Glaucoma
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1963.
2. Chen, C. M., and Weston, J. K.: The analgesic
and anesthetic effect of l-( 1-phenylcyclohexyl)
piperidine-HCl on the monkey, Anesth. &
Analg. 39: 132, 1960.
3. Spalding, V. T., and Heymann, C. S.: The
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monkeys, Vet. Rec. 74: 158, 1962.
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