The effects of ambient narrowband long-wavelength light on lens-induced myopia and form-deprivation myopia in tree shrews

Here we examine the effects of ambient red light on lens-induced myopia and diffuser-induced myopia in tree shrews, small diurnal mammals closely related to primates. Starting at 24 days of visual experience (DVE), seventeen tree shrews were reared in red light (624 +/- 10 or 634 +/- 10 nm, 527-749 human lux) for 12-14 days wearing either a -5D lens (RL-5D, n = 5) or a diffuser (RLFD, n = 5) monocularly, or without visual restriction (RL-Control, n = 7). Refractive errors and ocular dimensions were compared to those obtained from tree shrews raised in broad-spectrum white light (WL-5D, n = 5; WLFD, n = 10; WL Control, n = 7). The RL-5D tree shrews developed less myopia in their lens-treated eyes than WL-5D tree shrews at the end of the experiment (-1.1 +/- 0.9D vs. -3.8 +/- 0.3D, p = 0.007). The diffuser-treated eyes of the RLFD tree shrews were near-emmetropic (-0.3 +/- 0.6D, vs. -5.4 +/- 0.7D in the WLFD group). Red light induced hyperopia in control animals (RL-vs. WL-Control, +3.0 +/- 0.7 vs. +1.0 +/- 0.2D, p = 0.02), the no-lens eyes of the RL-5D animals, and the no-diffuser eyes of the RLFD animals (+2.5 +/- 0.5D and +2.3 +/- 0.3D, respectively). The refractive alterations were consistent with the alterations in vitreous chamber depth. The lens-induced myopia developed in red light suggests that a nonchromatic cue could signal defocus to a less accurate extent, although it could also be a result of "form-deprivation" caused by defocus blur. As with previous studies in rhesus monkeys, the ability of red light to promote hyperopia appears to correlate with its ability to retard lens-induced myopia and form-deprivation myopia, the latter of which might be related to non-visual ocular mechanisms.