Inducing form-deprivation myopia in fish

PURPOSE: To induce form deprivation myopia in fish and investigate the role of the lens in the development of refractive error. METHODS: Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), approximately 4 months old and from 26 to 63 g, were divided into three groups. Translucent goggles were directly sutured over the right eye for 4 weeks to induce form-deprivation myopia; the left eye served as an untreated contralateral control. The refractive state was measured by retinoscopy. Ocular dimensions were determined from frozen sections and with ultrasound biomicroscopy, and a scanning laser system was used to determine the optical quality of excised lenses. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of form-deprivation treatment, all the deprived fish eyes showed development of significant amounts of myopia ranging from -3.75 to -26.25 D, with the average amounting to -10.27 +/- 1.14 D. Eye dimension measurements show that the vitreous and anterior chambers of the treated eye are significantly longer axially than those of the contralateral eyes. No significant change in optical quality was found between lenses of the myopic and nonmyopic eyes. The fish recovered completely from the myopia 5 days after the goggle was removed. CONCLUSIONS: Although lower vertebrates are capable of lifelong growth, their eyes are susceptible to form-deprivation myopia. Thus, the visual environment is an important factor controlling ocular development in lower vertebrates, as well as in higher ones, and eye development is not strictly genetically determined. This study also indicates that lens growth and optical development are largely independent from the refractive development of the whole eye.     

Effects of continuous light on experimental refractive errors in chicks

It is possible to induce ametropias in young chicks either by depriving the developing eye of clear form vision with a translucent goggle or by defocusing the retinal image with convex or concave lenses. The refractive properties of the developing chick eye are also altered by raising young birds in a continuous light environment. The effects of superimposing form deprivation or defocus treatments on chicks raised in continuous light are unclear. Newly hatched (n = 31) chicks were raised for 2 weeks under continuous light while wearing either translucent goggles or + 10 or ? 10 diopter (D) lenses over one eye. Refractive states, corneal curvature and intraocular dimensions were measured periodically by retinoscopy, keratometry and A-scan ultrasound. The birds were sacrificed after 2 weeks and the eyes removed and measured with calipers. Under continuous light, all eyes treated with translucent goggle and ? 10D lens developed moderate myopia (? 2.6 ± 0.5 D and ? 1.4 ± 0.3 D, respectively) by day 4. The eyes treated with a + 10 D lens developed moderate hyperopia (+ 4.8 ± 0.5 D) at day 4. Corneal curvatures of all treated eyes were slightly, but significantly, larger than contralateral control eyes by day 4. After 2 weeks of goggle or lens application, all the treated eyes were hyperopic due to corneal flattening. But the eyes treated with a goggle or a ? 10 D lens still showed relative myopia compared to the fellow eyes (treated minus untreated = ? 3.8 ± 0.4 D and ? 2.8 ± 0.4 D, respectively), and the eyes treated with a + 10 D lens showed more hyperopia than fellow eyes (treated minus untreated = + 5.1 ± 0.6 D). Compared with the control eyes, the axial length (mainly vitreous chamber depth) was slightly, but significantly, increased in the eyes treated with a goggle or a ? 10 D lens, and the axial length decreased slightly in the eyes treated with + 10 D lens. The results suggest that form deprivation and retinal defocus (induced by ± 10 D lenses) could still induce experimental refractive errors (myopia and hyperopia) in chicks kept under continuous light, but the effects of form deprivation and retinal defocus were partially suppressed by continuous light.     

Optical correction of induced axial myopia in the tree shrew: implications for emmetropization.

PURPOSE: To determine whether an active emmetropization mechanism is involved in the recovery from axial myopia through the use of a mammalian model of refractive development. Specifically, we sought to establish whether the emmetropization mechanism is visually guided by the level of clarity of the image falling on the retina, or if recovery is driven by a mechanism sensitive to abnormal eye shape. METHODS: Young tree shrews had axial myopia induced by monocular deprivation (MD) of pattern vision and then the myopic eye was either: (1) accurately corrected with a negative lens or (2) had a zero-powered lens placed in front of it. Their emmetropization response was monitored, both through the use of ocular refractive and biometric measures, as well as through the assessment of scleral dry weight and glycosaminoglycan synthesis, as indicators of scleral metabolism. RESULTS: Corrective lenses prevented recovery from induced myopia (-6.8 +/- 0.7 D after 5 days MD vs. -6.6 +/- 0.6 D after 5 days of lens wear), whereas animals fitted with zero-powered lenses displayed near full recovery from the induced myopia (-6.6 +/- 0.6 D vs. -1.7 +/- 0.3 D). Significant reductions in scleral dry weight (-4.6 +/- 1.3%) and glycosaminoglycan synthesis (-28.6 +/- 7.3%) were found in the posterior sclera of animals wearing corrective lenses. Conversely, animals wearing zero-powered lenses displayed elevated levels of glycosaminoglycan synthesis (+62.3 +/- 11.1%) in conjunction with scleral dry weights that did not differ significantly between treated and fellow control eyes (-1.5 +/- 2.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Accurate correction of induced axial myopia prevents the refractive, biometric and scleral metabolic responses that are normally observed in tree shrew eyes recovering from induced myopia. These findings support the hypothesis that recovery is driven by an active emmetropization response dependent on the clarity of image falling on the retina and not by a mechanism that is sensitive to abnormal eye shape.     

Experimentally induced myopia does not affect post-hatching development of the chick lens

Myopia, as characterized by a large refractive error (e.g. -10.7 +/- 0.4 D), was induced in post-hatch chicks by a 14 day application of a goggle that was designed to blur the retinal image. In comparison to untreated eyes, the treated eye showed significant changes in wet eye weight and both axial and equatorial lengths. However, the lenses of myopic and non-myopic eyes were not significantly different in focal characteristics, light transmittance or total soluble protein content. Thus the lens neither contributes to, nor compensates for the large refractive error observed in experimentally induced myopia.     

The role of the lens in refractive development of the eye: animal models of ametropia

Research with young mammals and chicks has shown that the visual environment can affect the refractive development of the eye by enhancing or slowing axial eye growth, but the effect on the refractive components of the eye, the lens and cornea, are less clear. A review of the literature indicates that the lens is minimally affected, if at all, and results vary depending on whether the lens is studied in an isolated state or with the accommodative apparatus intact. Research has shown that the development of myopia or hyperopia in young chicks alters lens focal length and magnitude of the accommodative response. However, the result may be indirect or passive due to the effect of the change in size and shape of the globe on the articulation between the ciliary body and lens. Recent research has also investigated the role of the lens in induced refractive error development in a fish, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Translucent goggles were sutured over one eye for 4 weeks to induce form deprivation myopia while the untreated eye served as an untreated contralateral control. In addition to measuring refractive state and intraocular dimensions, a scanning laser system was used to determine the optical quality of excised lenses. All the deprived fish eyes developed significant amounts of myopia and the vitreous and anterior chambers of the treated eye were significantly longer axially than those of the untreated contralateral eyes. No significant change in optical quality was found between lenses of the myopic and non-myopic eyes and the fish recovered completely from the myopia five days after the goggle was removed. The results show that although fish, unlike higher vertebrates, are capable of lifelong growth, the visual environment is an important factor controlling ocular development in this group as well, and eye development is not strictly genetically determined. This review indicates that lens growth and optical development is independent from the refractive development of the whole eye.     

Reprint of “The role of the lens in refractive development of the eye: Animal models of ametropia” [Experimental Eye Research 87 (2008) 3-8]

Research with young mammals and chicks has shown that the visual environment can affect the refractive development of the eye by enhancing or slowing axial eye growth, but the effect on the refractive components of the eye, the lens and cornea, are less clear. A review of the literature indicates that the lens is minimally affected, if at all, and results vary depending on whether the lens is studied in an isolated state or with the accommodative apparatus intact. Research has shown that the development of myopia or hyperopia in young chicks alters lens focal length and magnitude of the accommodative response. However, the result may be indirect or passive due to the effect of the change in size and shape of the globe on the articulation between the ciliary body and lens. Recent research has also investigated the role of the lens in induced refractive error development in a fish, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Translucent goggles were sutured over one eye for 4 weeks to induce form deprivation myopia while the untreated eye served as an untreated contralateral control. In addition to measuring refractive state and intraocular dimensions, a scanning laser system was used to determine the optical quality of excised lenses. All the deprived fish eyes developed significant amounts of myopia and the vitreous and anterior chambers of the treated eye were significantly longer axially than those of the untreated contralateral eyes. No significant change in optical quality was found between lenses of the myopic and non-myopic eyes and the fish recovered completely from the myopia five days after the goggle was removed. The results show that although fish, unlike higher vertebrates, are capable of lifelong growth, the visual environment is an important factor controlling ocular development in this group as well, and eye development is not strictly genetically determined. This review indicates that lens growth and optical development is independent from the refractive development of the whole eye.     

Effects of experimentally induced ametropia on the morphology and optical quality of the avian crystalline lens

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of refractive error on avian lens morphology and optical quality. METHODS: Hatchling white leghorn chicks were unilaterally goggled for 7 days with either a form-deprivation goggle (n = 12), a -10 D defocus goggle (n = 12), or a +10 D defocus goggle (n = 12) to induce myopia and hyperopia. Optical quality of lenses (focal length and focal length variability) from treated and contralateral control eyes was assessed using a scanning laser apparatus. Lens morphology was examined by light and electron microscopy. RESULTS: Although the induction of refractive errors did not significantly alter lens size, shape, paraxial focal length, or average focal length, average focal length variability increased. Lenses from eyes goggled with form-deprivation and +10 D defocus goggles demonstrated a twofold increase in average focal length variability, when compared with their contralateral controls. The morphology of the lens is not altered by these experimental manipulations. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that the refractive development of the chick lens is not independent of the refractive development of the ocular globe and that chick lenticular development is influenced by both genetics and visual experience.     

Refractive plasticity of the developing chick eye

We have developed a lightweight plastic goggle with rigid contact lens inserts that can be applied to the eyes of newly hatched chicks to explore the range and accuracy of the developmental mechanism that responds to retinal defocus. Convex and concave lenses of 5, 10, 15, 20 and +30 D were applied to one eye on the day of hatching. The chick eye responds accurately to defocus between -10 and +15 D, although hyperopia develops more rapidly than myopia. Beyond this range there is first a levelling off of the response and then a decrease. The resulting refractive errors are caused mainly by increases and decreases in axial length, although high levels of hyperopia are associated with corneal flattening. If +/- 10 D defocusing lenses are applied nine days after hatching the resulting myopia and hyperopia are equal to about 80% of the inducing power. After one week of inducing myopia and hyperopia with +/- 10 D lenses, the inducing lenses were reversed. In this case, the refractive error did not reach the power of the second lens after another week of wear. Instead, astigmatism in varying amounts (0-12 D) was produced, being greater when reversal was from plus to minus. Finally, astigmatism can also be produced by applying 9 D toric inducing lenses on the day of hatching. The astigmatism produced varies from 2 to 6 D, and the most myopic meridian coincides with the power meridian of the inducing lens. This astigmatism appears to be primarily due to corneal toricity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Myopia among medical students in Norway.

In this study the prevalence of myopia and age at onset among medical students were determined. Of the 140 senior medical students at The Faculty of Medicine, University of Trondheim, Norway, 133 (75 females, 58 males) were examined. Visual acuity was tested and the refractive error was measured using automated refraction and clinical refractive technique. The prevalence of myopia was found to be 50.3% in the right eye (n = 67) without significant difference between female and male students. The refractive state was unrelated to body height. Among the myopic students, the mean equivalent sphere was -2.34 +/- 2.01 D in the right eye (range -9.25 D to -0.25 D). A clear relationship was detected between the current amount of myopia and the age at which corrective lenses were first prescribed. However, as much as 43.3% of the myopic students wearing corrective lenses first received these at the age of about 20 years, indicating a relatively high prevalence rate of adult-onset myopia.     

非球面高透氧性硬性透气性角膜接触镜矫正特殊类型屈光不正的临床评价

目的:评价非球面高透氧性硬性透气性角膜接触镜(rig idgas-permeable contactlens,RGPCL)矫正特殊类型屈光不正的临床疗效及安全性。方法:收集2009-03/2009-12验配非球面高透氧性RGPCL的特殊屈光不正的患者53例99眼,分为:(1)高度近视组6眼;(2)高度散光8眼;(3)屈光参差组15眼;(4)高度近视+高度散光组(近视≥-6.00D或散光≥-2.00D)10眼;(5)高度近视+高度散光+屈光参差组8眼;(6)圆锥角膜组(确诊为圆锥角膜的患者)48眼;(7)混合散光2眼;(8)特殊类型屈光不正组(角膜屈光手术后)2眼。观察验配RGPCL后的矫正视力,并与框架镜的矫正视力比较。定期复诊,记录矫正视力、镜片配适及配戴情况。结果:本组病例戴框架镜(试镜架)的等效球镜度数为(-8.10±5.38)D,而RGP度数为(-6.50±4.13)D,两者差异有显著性(t=-7.499,P<0.01)。戴RGPCL后的视力矫正视力(LOGMAR)为(0.02±0.09),低于戴框架镜的最佳矫正视力(0.14±0.20)。两者具有统计学差异(t=7.03,P<0.01);戴镜3~6mo后,出现10眼角膜上皮擦伤,3眼镜片丢失。结论:应用非球面RGP可矫正高度近视散光、圆锥角膜及各种原因引起的高度屈光不正,其矫正视力明显优于框架眼镜,并有较高的舒适度和安全性,无明显的并发症发生。     

左旋多巴对豚鼠形觉剥夺性近视形成的影响

目的研究腹腔注射左旋多巴（L-dopa）对豚鼠形觉剥夺性近视眼屈光状态及视网膜多巴胺含量的影响。方法眼罩遮盖建立豚鼠形觉剥夺性近视眼模型,分为正常对照组、L—dopa组（10mg／kg）、生理盐水组、遮盖组、遮盖＋L-dopa组、遮盖＋生理盐水组6个组。遮盖10d后,测定角膜曲率半径、眼球屈光度和眼轴长度,高效液相色谱检测视网膜多巴胺含量。结果眼罩遮盖10d后,豚鼠遮盖眼眼轴延长、近视形成,视网膜多巴胺含量降低（P〈0．05）,但角膜曲率半径无明显变化。腹腔注射L-dopa引起遮盖眼视网膜多巴胺含量增加、近视程度减轻（P〈0．05）,但对正常豚鼠眼球的屈光发育无明显影响（P〉0．05）。腹腔注射生理盐水后,豚鼠眼球屈光状态和视网膜多巴胺含量无明显变化（P〉0．05）。结论腹腔注射L—dopa能通过补充遮盖眼视网膜多巴胺含量,抑制豚鼠形觉剥夺性近视的形成。     

Effect of interrupted lens wear on compensation for a minus lens in tree shrews.

BACKGROUND: When a young animal wears a monocular minus (concave) lens that shifts the focal plane away from the cornea, the vitreous chamber elongates over a period of days, shifting the retinal location to compensate for the altered focal plane. We examined the effect of removing the lens for a portion of each day on the amount of compensation in tree shrews. METHODS: Starting 24 days after natural eye opening, juvenile tree shrews wore a goggle frame that held a -5 D lens in front of one eye, with an open frame around the fellow control eye. The goggle was removed for 0, 0.5, 1, 2, or 7 h each day (N = 5, 5, 5, 5, and 3 animals per group, respectively), starting 0.5 h after the start of each 14 h light-on period. After 21 days of treatment, measures were made of the cycloplegic refractive state (streak retinoscopy) and the ocular component dimensions (A-scan ultrasound). Normal animals that experienced 14 h each day with no lens (N = 3) were also examined. RESULTS: The treated eyes of the 0 h group developed full refractive compensation for the lens (treated eye - control eye, mean +/- SEM = -5.8+/-1.1 D) and had increased vitreous chamber depth (0.13+/-0.02 mm) and axial length (0.12+/-0.02 mm) relative to the untreated control eye. The groups in which the lens was removed for 0.5 and 1 h each day showed partial compensation for the -5 D lens, both in refractive state (-4.2+/-0.4 D; -2.9+/-1.6 D) and in vitreous chamber depth (0.12+/-0.02 mm; 0.09+/-0.02 mm). The 2, 7, and 14 h (normal) groups showed no significant refractive or axial compensation. In the 0.5 and 1 h groups, A-scan ultrasound showed a thinning of the region between the front of the retina and back of the sclera. CONCLUSIONS: The eyes of tree shrews can tolerate altered monocular visual stimulation produced by a minus lens worn for 12 h of a 14-h light cycle without developing an induced myopia. However, when the lens is worn more than 12 of 14 h each day, compensation appears to increase linearly with decreased lens-off time. If the eyes of human children respond similarly to defocus from near work or other sources, it would seem that the defocus must be present almost all the time to induce myopia. If defocus contributes to human myopia through a compensation mechanism, then an increase in the amount of time that focused images are present should reduce myopic progression.     

Inducing myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism in chicks

Myopia and hyperopia have been produced in chicks by applying specially designed convex and concave soft contact lenses to the eyes of newly hatched birds. After 2 weeks of wear, the eyes develop refractive states equivalent in sign and amount (+8 and -10 D) to the lens used. However, the lenses produce an artificial hyperopic shift during the first week of wear due to corneal flattening. We have developed a new approach involving the use of goggles with hard convex and concave contact lens inserts placed between the frontal and lateral visual fields. Myopia and hyperopia (+10 and -10 D) can be produced within days (4 days for hyperopia and 7 days for myopia) if the defocus is applied from the day of hatching. We can also produce significant amounts of astigmatism (1 to 5 D) axis at 90 degrees and 180 degrees by using cylindrical contact lens inserts. Although these last results are preliminary, they suggest that accommodation is not likely involved at this stage of refractive development because we do not believe that the accommodative mechanism can cope with cylindrical defocus. All spherical refractive errors produced using the goggle system appear to result from alterations in vitreous chamber depth.     

Local patterns of image degradation differentially affect refraction and eye shape in chick

PURPOSE: To evaluate visual blur as a mechanism for modulating eye shape. METHODS: Chicks wore a unilateral full goggle or one of several goggles modified with apertures. After 2 weeks, eyes were measured with refractometry, ultrasound, and calipers, and three retinal regions were assayed for dopamine and DOPAC (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid). RESULTS: Goggled eyes were diffusely enlarged or enlarged predominantly along the axial dimension, depending on the goggle. Myopia developed under goggle types inducing primarily axial growth and under some of the goggles inducing diffuse eye expansion. Enlarged eyes remained emmetropic beneath other goggles that caused diffuse eye expansion. Reductions in retinal dopamine and DOPAC were proportional to the eye growth and refraction effects. CONCLUSIONS: Localized image degradation can cause myopia with predominantly axial expansion, myopia with more diffuse vitreous chamber expansion, or eye expansion without myopia. Robust expansion of the equatorial diameter alone was not observed. The associated alterations in retinal dopamine metabolism are consistent with a hypothesized role of dopaminergic amacrine cells in the visual regulation of eye growth. Besides refraction and overall size, visual blur can affect eye shape; but the goggle responses do not correspond to a simple summation of blur signals across the retina. Therefore, other mechanisms seemingly are needed to account for the full range of refractions and ocular shapes seen in chicks and, by analogy, in humans.     

鸡眼形觉剥夺性近视的实验研究

目的建立鸡形觉剥夺近视模型,观察形觉剥夺眼屈光、巩膜形态学改变。方法将孵出后一天的家鸡25只,以右眼为形觉剥夺眼,左眼为开放对照眼,2周后进行检影验光,并摘出眼球,测量眼轴长和赤道径。观察巩膜软骨层中细胞密度、增殖细胞率,并测量角巩膜的干湿重。结果剥夺眼的屈光度平均为-11.9±4.6D,对照眼平均为+3.0±1.2D,两者差异有显著性意义,轴长较对照眼明显延长（P<0.01）,剥夺眼的巩膜干湿重均明显重于对照眼（P<0.01）,并且巩膜软骨中增殖细胞率明显高于对照眼（P<0.05）,但细胞密度则低于对照眼（P<0.05）。结论鸡眼形觉剥夺可产生一定程度的近视和眼轴延长,并伴随着巩膜的病理形态改变。     

Afocal magnification does not influence chick eye development.

In defocus-induced ametropia experiments, retinal blur circles are a likely source of information as to the magnitude but not the sign of the defocus. However, magnification (and minification) produced by the lenses may be a cue. In this study, 1-day-old broiler chicks (N = 13) were treated monocularly for 7 days with special goggles containing approximately afocal iseikonic lenses which were designed to produce 10% retinal image magnification. This is a little less than the magnification produced by +10 D defocusing lenses used to produce about 10 D of hyperopia in earlier work. Intraocular dimensions of both eyes were measured by A-scan ultrasonography on the first and last day. Refractive states of both eyes were measured daily with a retinoscope and trial lenses. After the birds were sacrificed, the eyes were enucleated, weighed, and measured with calipers. Before the treatment there was no difference in the refractive state or dimensions of the right and left eyes. After 1 week of goggle wear there was still no significant difference between the eyes in spite of the magnification produced by the goggles. These data suggest that factors other than magnification are responsible for the ability of the eye to respond to the sign of defocus.     

Comparison of refractive state and circumferential morphology of retina, choroid, and sclera in chick models of experimentally induced ametropia.

PURPOSE: Simultaneous comparisons of the circumferential morphological tissue profiles and final refractions from form-deprivation myopia (FDM), defocus-induced myopia (DIM), and defocus-induced hyperopia (DIH) models of ametropia have been made to test the hypothesis that changes in the thickness profiles of the three coats of the eye, and particularly that of the choroid, can be predicted from the degree of induced refractive error. METHODS: Hatchling chickens (n = 23) were raised for 2 weeks wearing either a monocular translucent diffuser (FDM, n = 8), monocular -10.00 D lens goggle (DIM, n = 7), monocular +10.00 D lens goggle (DIH, n = 7), or nothing (Norm, n = 1). All animals were refracted using retinoscopy and were then sacrificed, and whole eyes were processed for scanning electron microscopy. Retinal, choroidal, and cartilaginous sclera (CS) thickness measurements were made from photographic collages of the entire circumference of the globe. Of the 23 chickens, complete morphological profile data were available for both eyes of 10 animals (nine treated and one normal). The contralateral fellow eyes (FEyes) of all nine experimental chickens were used as experimental controls as paired comparisons for statistical analyses. RESULTS: Morphological profiles of control and experimental eyes revealed significant systematic regional variations in tissue thickness. This variation was related to nasal or temporal eccentricity with the nasal side generally thinner than the temporal. Retinal, choroidal, and CS tissue from FDM and DIM eyes showed very similar anatomical responses despite significantly different degrees of refractive change. DIH eyes showed significant increases in choroidal thickness but none in retinal or CS thickness. Analysis of fellow control eyes indicated that in both myopia models (FDM and DIM), significant changes in all tissues of the untreated fellow eyes occur whereas only the choroid of the fellow eye was affected in the hyperopic (DIH) model. CONCLUSIONS: The morphological similarity observed in the circumferential profiles of the retina, choroid, and cartilaginous sclera of the FDM and DIM eyes despite approximately 20 D difference in final refraction suggests that choroidal thickness is not a good predictor of final refractive error across models. Similarly, the final refractive difference of approximately 20 D between the DIM and the DIH eyes did not receive a major contribution from the final difference in choroidal thickness (with its implied effect on vitreous chamber length).     

Binocular lens treatment in tree shrews: Effect of age and comparison of plus lens wear with recovery from minus lens-induced myopia

We examined normal emmetropization and the refractive responses to binocular plus or minus lenses in young (late infantile) and juvenile tree shrews. In addition, recovery from lens-induced myopia was compared with the response to a similar amount of myopia produced with plus lenses in age-matched juvenile animals. Normal emmetropization was examined with daily noncycloplegic autorefractor measures from 11 days after natural eye-opening (days of visual experience [VE]) when the eyes were in the infantile, rapid growth phase and their refractions were substantially hyperopic, to 35 days of VE when the eyes had entered the juvenile, slower growth phase and the refractions were near emmetropia. Starting at 11 days of VE, two groups of young tree shrews wore binocular +4 D lenses (n = 6) or −5 D lenses (n = 5). Starting at 24 days of VE, four groups of juvenile tree shrews (n = 5 each) wore binocular +3 D, +5 D, −3 D, or −5 D lenses. Non-cycloplegic measures of refractive state were made frequently while the animals wore the assigned lenses. The refractive response of the juvenile plus-lens wearing animals was compared with the refractive recovery of an age-matched group of animals (n = 5) that were myopic after wearing a −5 D lens from 11 to 24 days of VE. In normal tree shrews, refractions (corrected for the small eye artifact) declined rapidly from (mean ± SEM) 6.6 ± 0.6 D of hyperopia at 11 VE to 1.4 ± 0.2 D at 24 VE and 0.8 ± 0.4 D at 35 VE. Plus 4 D lens treatment applied at 11 days of VE initially corrected or over-corrected the young animals’ hyperopia and produced a compensatory response in most animals; the eyes became nearly emmetropic while wearing the +4 D lenses. In contrast, plus-lens treatment starting at 24 days of VE initially made the juvenile eyes myopic (over-correction) and, on average, was less effective. The response ranged from no change in refractive state (eye continued to experience myopia) to full compensation (emmetropic with the lens in place). Minus-lens wear in both the young and juvenile groups, which initially made eyes more hyperopic, consistently produced compensation to the minus lens so that eyes reached age-appropriate refractions while wearing the lenses. When the minus lenses were removed, the eyes recovered quickly to age-matched normal values. The consistent recovery response from myopia in juvenile eyes after minus-lens compensation, compared with the highly variable response to plus lens wear in age-matched juvenile animals suggests that eyes retain the ability to detect the myopic refractive state, but there is an age-related decrease in the ability of normal eyes to use myopia to slow their elongation rate below normal. If juvenile human eyes, compared with infants, have a similar difficulty in using myopia to slow axial elongation, this may contribute to myopia development, especially in eyes with a genetic pre-disposition to elongate.     

Bilateral experimental myopia in chicks

Substantial amounts of myopia can be induced in chicks by depriving the eye of clear vision for a period of 2 weeks after hatching. Previous work has primarily involved unilateral visual deprivation. Experiments described here include bilateral visual deprivation involving an opaque goggle over one eye and a translucent goggle over the other. The results indicate that although myopia is induced bilaterally, the eye under the translucent goggle becomes more myopic than the contralateral eye or the unilateral deprivation condition. Lens focal characteristics are not affected by the level of myopia. The fact that deprivation of one eye can affect the refractive development of the contralateral eye has implications related to the question of central vs. peripheral neural control of refractive development.     

Role of parental myopia in the progression of myopia and its interaction with treatment in COMET children

PURPOSE: The present study investigated the relationship between parental refractive error and myopia progression in their offspring and the interaction between parental ametropia and the effects of wearing progressive-addition (PALs) or single-vision (SVLs) lenses on the progression of myopia in children enrolled in the Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial (COMET). METHODS: The progression of myopia in a subset of COMET children (N= 232; 49% of initial group) was defined as the difference in mean spherical equivalent refraction of both eyes obtained by cycloplegic autorefraction between the baseline and 5-year visit. Parental refractions were obtained by noncycloplegic autorefraction (81%) or from recent eye examination records (19%). RESULTS: The number of myopic parents (mean spherical equivalent refraction 相似文献