Optically Induced Anisometropias

项目总结/摘要 出生后不久，大多数婴儿发展出最佳屈光不正（即，“临床”正视）， 在整个童年和成年生活中都保持着。然而，由于目前尚不清楚的原因， 显著且迅速增加的人口比例发展为近视或近视眼。因为 当眼睛变得近视时发生的结构变化，即使是低度数的近视也会造成显著的 多重设盲条件的风险。因此，近视现在是永久性近视的主要原因之一。 世界上最严重的视力障碍此外，近视是一个巨大的经济负担。除了 由于生产力的损失，每年有数十亿美元花费在近视引起的光学矫正和病理上。 我们研究计划的长期目标是更好地了解常见的 近视、青少年近视和成人早期近视，并制定有效的治疗策略， 减轻近视负担。我们所提出的研究的具体目标是确定视觉 经验影响屈光发展，以表征视觉依赖的操作特性 调节眼睛生长的机制，并探索消除近视的新药物方法。 我们的目的是产生可以应用于人眼的知识;然而，许多所需的知识， 实验不能在人类身上进行。因此，这些实验将使用恒河猴进行 猴子我们实验室和其他人以前的研究表明，光的特性，如强度， 波长和暴露的持续时间影响眼睛的生长。可能的机制包括： 视网膜和脉络膜视觉级联和眼重塑，特别是巩膜， the eye.初步数据还表明，前列腺素类似物和α-肾上腺素能激动剂影响眼睛 增长在这里，控制饲养策略，严格的光学和生物技术，和组织病理学 研究将用于确定：1）红光暴露的持续时间和剂量对体内 眼生长和近视以及对体外人巩膜成纤维细胞培养的影响;以及2）是否存在前列腺素类似物 α-2肾上腺素能激动剂可以减缓近视的发展。巩膜成纤维细胞活性的作用， 将检查眼睛生长中的巩膜重塑和眼内压。拟议的实验重点 关于视觉经验影响屈光发展的方式的基本问题。 研究结果将是重要的，以确定如何以及在何种程度上视觉经验有助于成因 常见的人类屈光不正。更重要的是，这些研究的结果可能会提供 为最常见的近视形式提供新的治疗和管理策略的科学基础， 预防和减缓儿童近视的进展，提高生活质量，降低相关风险 病理，并减少近视造成的经济负担。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Soon after birth, most infants develop the optimal refractive error (i.e., “clinical” emmetropia) in both eyes that is maintained throughout childhood and into adult life. However, for reasons not currently understood, a significant and rapidly increasing proportion of the population develop myopia, or nearsightedness. Because of structural changes that take place as the eye becomes myopic, even low degrees of myopia pose a significant risk for multiple blinding conditions. As a consequence, myopia is now one of the leading causes of permanent visual impairment in the world. Additionally, myopia represents a substantial economic burden. In addition to lost productivity, billions of dollars are spent annually on optical corrections and pathologies caused by myopia. The long-term goal of our research program is to provide a better understanding of the etiology of common forms of myopia, juvenile and early adult-onset myopia, and to develop effective treatment strategies that reduce the burden of myopia. The specific aims of our proposed research are to determine how visual experience affects refractive development, to characterize the operational properties of the vision-dependent mechanisms that regulate eye growth, and to explore new pharmaceutical approaches to eliminate myopia. Our purpose is to generate knowledge that can be applied to the human eye; however, many of the required experiments cannot be conducted in humans. Therefore, these experiments will be conducted using rhesus monkeys. Previous studies in our lab and others show that characteristics of light, such as intensity, wavelength, and duration of exposure, influence eye growth. Potential mechanisms include alterations in retinal and choroidal visual cascades and ocular remodeling, particularly of the sclera, the outermost coat of the eye. Preliminary data also show that prostaglandin analogs and alpha-adrenergic agonists influence eye growth. Here, controlled rearing strategies, rigorous optical and biometric techniques, and histopathological investigation will be used to determine: 1) the effects of duration and dosing of red light exposure on in vivo eye growth and myopia and on in vitro human scleral fibroblast culture and 2) whether prostaglandin analogs and alpha-2 adrenergic agonists can slow the development of myopia. The role of scleral fibroblast activity, scleral remodeling, and intraocular pressure in eye growth will be examined. The proposed experiments focus on fundamental issues concerning the manner in which visual experience influences refractive development. Findings will be important in determining how and to what extent visual experience contributes to the genesis of common human refractive errors. More importantly, the results of these studies will potentially provide the scientific foundation for novel treatment and management strategies for the most common forms of myopia in children to prevent and slow the progression of myopia, increase quality of life, reduce the risk of associated pathologies, and decrease the economic burden caused by myopia.