Zhang Yan, Paik Sun-Sook, Kim In-Beom
Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
Department of Biomedicine & Health Sciences, Graduate School, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
Exp Neurobiol. 2024 Jun 30;33(3):152-164. doi: 10.5607/en24011.
The harmful effects of blue light on the retina and health issues attributed to flickering light have been researched extensively. However, reports on the effects of flickering blue light at a frequency in the visible range on the retina are limited. This study aimed to non-invasively investigate the structural and functional changes in mice retinas following exposure to flickering blue light. BALB/c mice were subjected to non-flickering and flickering blue light, and changes in the retinal function and structure were assessed using electroretinography (ERG) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), respectively. Retinal damage progression was monitored on days 3, 7, 14, and 42 following light exposure. Significant reductions in scotopic and photopic ERG responses were observed on day 3 (p<0.05). On day 7, the non-flickering and flickering groups demonstrated different functional changes: the flickering group showed further ERG response reduction, while the non-flickering group showed no reduction or slight improvement that was statistically insignificant (p>0.05). A similar trend lasted by day 14. On day 42, however, the difference between the non-flickering and flickering groups was significant, which was corroborated by the normalized amplitudes at 0, 0.5, and 1 log cd s/m (p<0.05). Quantitative and qualitative SD-OCT assays revealed more severe and progressive retinal damage in the flickering group throughout the study. Flickering blue light causes more persistent and severe retinal damage than non-flickering blue light and may be a risk factor for retinal degeneration even at frequencies as low as 20 Hz.
蓝光对视网膜的有害影响以及与闪烁光相关的健康问题已得到广泛研究。然而，关于可见范围内闪烁蓝光对视网膜影响的报道却很有限。本研究旨在通过非侵入性方法，探究小鼠视网膜在暴露于闪烁蓝光后结构和功能的变化。将BALB/c小鼠分别暴露于非闪烁和闪烁蓝光下，然后分别使用视网膜电图（ERG）和光谱域光学相干断层扫描（SD-OCT）评估视网膜功能和结构的变化。在光照后的第3、7、14和42天监测视网膜损伤的进展情况。在第3天观察到暗视和明视ERG反应显著降低（p<0.05）。在第7天，非闪烁组和闪烁组表现出不同的功能变化：闪烁组的ERG反应进一步降低，而非闪烁组未出现降低或仅有轻微改善，且差异无统计学意义（p>0.05）。到第14天，类似趋势持续存在。然而，在第42天，非闪烁组和闪烁组之间的差异具有显著性，这在0、0.5和1 log cd s/m的标准化振幅中得到了证实（p<0.05）。定量和定性的SD-OCT检测显示，在整个研究过程中，闪烁组的视网膜损伤更为严重且呈进行性发展。与非闪烁蓝光相比，闪烁蓝光会导致更持久、更严重的视网膜损伤，即使在低至20 Hz的频率下，也可能是视网膜变性的一个危险因素。
