Abstract
Purpose :
Long-wavelength lighting reduces lens-induced myopia in monkeys. Our aim was to determine whether long-wavelength lighting also alters form-deprivation myopia in infant animals.
Methods :
Starting at 23±3 days of age, 7 infant rhesus monkeys were reared under long-wavelength LED ceiling lighting (630 nm 20 nm half-max bandwidth; average cage level illuminance = 274±64 lux) with monocular diffuser lenses in front of one eye and clear plano lenses in front of their fellow eyes (LWD monkeys). Refractive development, corneal power, and vitreous chamber depth were measured by retinoscopy, keratometry, and ultrasonography, respectively. Control data were obtained from monkeys reared under typical indoor fluorescent lighting and subjected to either with same form deprivation regimen (FLD monkeys, n=16) or reared with unrestricted vision (FLN monkeys, n=37), and normal controls reared with unrestricted vision under same long-wavelength lighting (LWN monkeys, n=7).
Results :
At 132±8 days of age, the median ametropias of LWD monkeys were more hyperopic than those of FLD monkeys (diffuser eyes: +5.00 D vs -1.56D, p=0.007; fellow eyes: +5.06 D vs +2.88 D, p=0.03). In addition, the median ametropias for the diffuser eyes of the LWD monkeys and the right eyes of the LWN monkeys (+3.56 D) were significantly more hyperopic than the right eyes of FLN monkeys (+2.44 D, p=0.003 and 0.004, respectively). In contrast to the consistent myopic anisometropias found in the FLD monkeys (average: -4.34±3.71D), only one of the LWD monkeys developed a myopic anisometropia greater than 1.0 D (group average: -0.53±3.46D). All of the changes in refractive development were associated with the alterations in vitreous chamber growth rates.
Conclusions :
Quasi monochromatic long-wavelength, possibly by reducing the effectiveness of signals that normally promote axial elongation, greatly reduces the likelihood that form-deprivation will produce axial myopia and produces hyperopic shifts in the fellow control eyes.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.