The effect of blue light exposure and use of intraocular lenses on human uveal melanoma cell lines.

Little is known about the effect of blue light on inducing melanocytic malignant transformation. We chose to investigate the effect of blue light (475 nm wavelength) on the proliferation rates of uveal melanoma cells. In addition, we tested two different intraocular lenses to determine the possible effects of ultraviolet absorbing and blue light filtering intraocular lenses on the changes in proliferation. Four human uveal melanoma cell lines (92.1, MKT-BR, OCM-1, SP6.5) were exposed to blue light with and without the presence of ultraviolet absorbing and blue light filtering intraocular lenses. Cells covered by aluminum foil were used as a control. The proliferation rate of the cells compared with the control was then assessed using the Sulforhodamine-B proliferation assay. Cells exposed to blue light showed a statistically significant (P<0.05) increase in proliferation. Those exposed to blue light through a standard ultraviolet absorbing intraocular lens showed a smaller increase in proliferation, whereas those exposed with a blue light filtering intraocular lens showed no increase in proliferation than the control in all four cell lines. The exposure of cells to blue light led to an increase in proliferation in all cell lines compared with the control. The use of blue light filtering intraocular lenses abolished these increases in proliferation in the four cell lines. These results indicate that blue light filtering intraocular lenses may have a protective effect on the proliferation rates of uveal melanoma cells exposed to blue light.