Abstract
Purpose :
We previously reported that rearing infant monkeys under narrowband, long-wavelength lighting (630 nm) prevented the development of form deprivation myopia (FDM). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of narrowband, short-wavelength lighting on the phenomenon of FDM in infant monkeys.
Methods :
Starting at 26.4 ± 2.2 days of age, infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were reared under short-wavelength blue LED lighting (465 nm; illuminance = 183 ± 28 lux) with a diffuser lens in front of one eye and a plano lens in front of the fellow eye (FD-BL, n = 7). Refractive development, corneal power, and vitreous chamber depth were measured every two weeks by retinoscopy, keratometry, and ultrasonography, respectively. Comparison data were available from previous studies for similar diffuser rearing groups housed under white fluorescent lighting (FD-WL, n = 16) or narrowband, equal-energy, long-wavelength red lighting (630 nm; FD-RL, n = 7).
Results :
All seven monkeys in FD-BL group developed at least -0.5 D of relative myopia in the form-deprived eyes during the four month treatment period. At the end of the treatment period, the mean (±SD) degree of anisometropia (treated eye refraction – fellow eye refraction) for the FD-BL monkeys was -2.73 ± 3.40 D and comparable to that for the FD-WL monkeys (-4.48 ± 3.73 D; T = 1.06, p = 0.30). Moreover, the developmental time course for the longitudinal interocular differences in refractive error for the FD-BL group was not significantly different from that of the FD-WL monkeys (mixed design, repeated measures ANOVA, F = 1.01, p = 0.36). In contrast, the longitudinal changes in anisometropia for the FD-RL monkeys was statistically different from that of the FD-WL monkeys (F = 4.49, p = 0.03). All the between eye and between group refractive-error differences were correlated with differences in vitreous chamber depth.
Conclusions :
Unlike narrowband, long-wavelength red lighting, narrowband blue lighting did not suppress FDM, nor did it enhance the degree of myopia. These results suggest that under open-loop viewing conditions, short-wavelength lighting does not alter the eye’s intrinsic axial elongation rate. However, as observed in other species, the effects of quasi-monochromatic ambient lighting on vision-dependent refractive development varies with wavelength.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.