Light and myopia: from epidemiological studies to neurobiological mechanisms

Arumugam R. Muralidharan; Lanca Carla; Sayantan Biswas; Veluchamy A. Barathi; Wan Yu Shermaine Low; Seang Mei Saw; Dan Milea; Raymond P. Najjar

doi:10.1177/25158414211059246

Light and myopia: from epidemiological studies to neurobiological mechanisms

Arumugam R. Muralidharan, Lanca Carla, Sayantan Biswas, Veluchamy A. Barathi, Wan Yu Shermaine Low, Seang Mei Saw, Dan Milea, Raymond P. Najjar^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Optometry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Myopia is far beyond its inconvenience and represents a true, highly prevalent, sight-threatening ocular condition, especially in Asia. Without adequate interventions, the current epidemic of myopia is projected to affect 50% of the world population by 2050, becoming the leading cause of irreversible blindness. Although blurred vision, the predominant symptom of myopia, can be improved by contact lenses, glasses or refractive surgery, corrected myopia, particularly high myopia, still carries the risk of secondary blinding complications such as glaucoma, myopic maculopathy and retinal detachment, prompting the need for prevention. Epidemiological studies have reported an association between outdoor time and myopia prevention in children. The protective effect of time spent outdoors could be due to the unique characteristics (intensity, spectral distribution, temporal pattern, etc.) of sunlight that are lacking in artificial lighting. Concomitantly, studies in animal models have highlighted the efficacy of light and its components in delaying or even stopping the development of myopia and endeavoured to elucidate possible mechanisms involved in this process. In this narrative review, we (1) summarize the current knowledge concerning light modulation of ocular growth and refractive error development based on studies in human and animal models, (2) summarize potential neurobiological mechanisms involved in the effects of light on ocular growth and emmetropization and (3) highlight a potential pathway for the translational development of noninvasive light-therapy strategies for myopia prevention in children.

Original language	English
Number of pages	45
Journal	Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology
Volume	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/25158414211059246
Publication status	Published - 19 Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding: The authors disclosed receipt of the following
financial support for the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article: This work was
supported by A∗STAR-JANSSEN World without disease (A∗JWWD) (18/4/91/00/099), and by Singapore Government through the Industry
Alignment Fund – Industry Collaboration Project Grant (I1901E0038) and Johnson and Johnson Vision.
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)

Keywords

animal models
doopamine
light
myopia
neurobiology
outdoor activity

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10.1177/25158414211059246Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0

Light and myopia
Copyright: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)
Final published version, 715 KBLicence: CC BY-NC 4.0

Cite this

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title = "Light and myopia: from epidemiological studies to neurobiological mechanisms",

abstract = "Myopia is far beyond its inconvenience and represents a true, highly prevalent, sight-threatening ocular condition, especially in Asia. Without adequate interventions, the current epidemic of myopia is projected to affect 50% of the world population by 2050, becoming the leading cause of irreversible blindness. Although blurred vision, the predominant symptom of myopia, can be improved by contact lenses, glasses or refractive surgery, corrected myopia, particularly high myopia, still carries the risk of secondary blinding complications such as glaucoma, myopic maculopathy and retinal detachment, prompting the need for prevention. Epidemiological studies have reported an association between outdoor time and myopia prevention in children. The protective effect of time spent outdoors could be due to the unique characteristics (intensity, spectral distribution, temporal pattern, etc.) of sunlight that are lacking in artificial lighting. Concomitantly, studies in animal models have highlighted the efficacy of light and its components in delaying or even stopping the development of myopia and endeavoured to elucidate possible mechanisms involved in this process. In this narrative review, we (1) summarize the current knowledge concerning light modulation of ocular growth and refractive error development based on studies in human and animal models, (2) summarize potential neurobiological mechanisms involved in the effects of light on ocular growth and emmetropization and (3) highlight a potential pathway for the translational development of noninvasive light-therapy strategies for myopia prevention in children.",

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author = "Muralidharan, {Arumugam R.} and Lanca Carla and Sayantan Biswas and Barathi, {Veluchamy A.} and Low, {Wan Yu Shermaine} and Saw, {Seang Mei} and Dan Milea and Najjar, {Raymond P.}",

note = "Funding: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by A∗STAR-JANSSEN World without disease (A∗JWWD) (18/4/91/00/099), and by Singapore Government through the Industry Alignment Fund – Industry Collaboration Project Grant (I1901E0038) and Johnson and Johnson Vision. Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)",

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AU - Carla, Lanca

AU - Biswas, Sayantan

AU - Barathi, Veluchamy A.

AU - Low, Wan Yu Shermaine

AU - Saw, Seang Mei

AU - Milea, Dan

AU - Najjar, Raymond P.

N1 - Funding: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by A∗STAR-JANSSEN World without disease (A∗JWWD) (18/4/91/00/099), and by Singapore Government through the Industry Alignment Fund – Industry Collaboration Project Grant (I1901E0038) and Johnson and Johnson Vision. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)

PY - 2021/12/19

Y1 - 2021/12/19

N2 - Myopia is far beyond its inconvenience and represents a true, highly prevalent, sight-threatening ocular condition, especially in Asia. Without adequate interventions, the current epidemic of myopia is projected to affect 50% of the world population by 2050, becoming the leading cause of irreversible blindness. Although blurred vision, the predominant symptom of myopia, can be improved by contact lenses, glasses or refractive surgery, corrected myopia, particularly high myopia, still carries the risk of secondary blinding complications such as glaucoma, myopic maculopathy and retinal detachment, prompting the need for prevention. Epidemiological studies have reported an association between outdoor time and myopia prevention in children. The protective effect of time spent outdoors could be due to the unique characteristics (intensity, spectral distribution, temporal pattern, etc.) of sunlight that are lacking in artificial lighting. Concomitantly, studies in animal models have highlighted the efficacy of light and its components in delaying or even stopping the development of myopia and endeavoured to elucidate possible mechanisms involved in this process. In this narrative review, we (1) summarize the current knowledge concerning light modulation of ocular growth and refractive error development based on studies in human and animal models, (2) summarize potential neurobiological mechanisms involved in the effects of light on ocular growth and emmetropization and (3) highlight a potential pathway for the translational development of noninvasive light-therapy strategies for myopia prevention in children.

AB - Myopia is far beyond its inconvenience and represents a true, highly prevalent, sight-threatening ocular condition, especially in Asia. Without adequate interventions, the current epidemic of myopia is projected to affect 50% of the world population by 2050, becoming the leading cause of irreversible blindness. Although blurred vision, the predominant symptom of myopia, can be improved by contact lenses, glasses or refractive surgery, corrected myopia, particularly high myopia, still carries the risk of secondary blinding complications such as glaucoma, myopic maculopathy and retinal detachment, prompting the need for prevention. Epidemiological studies have reported an association between outdoor time and myopia prevention in children. The protective effect of time spent outdoors could be due to the unique characteristics (intensity, spectral distribution, temporal pattern, etc.) of sunlight that are lacking in artificial lighting. Concomitantly, studies in animal models have highlighted the efficacy of light and its components in delaying or even stopping the development of myopia and endeavoured to elucidate possible mechanisms involved in this process. In this narrative review, we (1) summarize the current knowledge concerning light modulation of ocular growth and refractive error development based on studies in human and animal models, (2) summarize potential neurobiological mechanisms involved in the effects of light on ocular growth and emmetropization and (3) highlight a potential pathway for the translational development of noninvasive light-therapy strategies for myopia prevention in children.

KW - animal models

KW - doopamine

KW - light

KW - myopia

KW - neurobiology

KW - outdoor activity

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U2 - 10.1177/25158414211059246

DO - 10.1177/25158414211059246

M3 - Review article

SN - 2515-8414

VL - 13

JO - Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology

JF - Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology

ER -

Light and myopia: from epidemiological studies to neurobiological mechanisms

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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