Insights into the mechanism by which atropine inhibits myopia: evidence against cholinergic hyperactivity and modulation of dopamine release.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

The ability of the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist atropine to inhibit myopia development in humans and animal models would suggest that cholinergic hyperactivity may underlie myopic growth. To test this, we investigated whether cholinergic agonists accelerate ocular growth rates in chickens. Furthermore, we investigated whether atropine alters ocular growth by downstream modulation of dopamine levels, a mechanism postulated to underlie its antimyopic effects.

Experimental approach

Muscarinic (muscarine and pilocarpine), nicotinic (nicotine) and non-specific (oxotremorine and carbachol) cholinergic agonists were administered to chicks developing form-deprivation myopia (FDM) or chicks that were otherwise untreated. Vitreal levels of dopamine and its

SUBMITTER: Thomson K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9293064 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature