Bright Light Suppresses Form-Deprivation Myopia Development With Activation of Dopamine D1 Receptor Signaling in the ON Pathway in Retina

PURPOSE. To determine whether dopamine receptor D1 (D1R) signaling pathway activation by bright light (BL) in specific retinal neuronal cell types contributes to inhibiting form-deprivation myopia (FDM) in mice. METHODS. Mice (3-weeks old) were raised under either normal light (NL: 100-200 lux) or BL (2500-5000 lux) conditions with or without form deprivation. Refraction changes were evaluated with an eccentric infrared photorefractor, and ocular axial components with optical coherence tomography. The D1R antagonist, SCH39166, was intraperitoneally injected daily to evaluate if BL mediates declines in FDM development through D1R activation. Six different biomarkers of retinal neuronal types delineated differential distribution of D1R expression. c-Fos and phosphorylated tyrosine hydroxylase (p-TH) immunofluorescent staining evaluated D1R receptor activation and dopamine synthesis, respectively. RESULTS. Bright light exposure for 4 weeks (6 hours per day) inhibited FDM development by reducing ocular elongation and shifting refraction toward hyperopia compared with changes occurring in NL. SCH39166 injections completely reversed the inhibitory effects of BL on both refraction and ocular elongation. Bright light increased the number of cells expressing pTH and c-fos. Increases in c-fos+cells occurred mainly in D1R+bipolar cells (BCs), especially D1R+ON-BCs. CONCLUSIONS. Bright light increases D1R activity in the BCs of the ON pathway, which is associated with less myopic shift and ocular elongation than those occurring in NL. These declines suggest that increased D1R activity in the ON pathway contributes to the BL suppression of FDM development in mice.