Study sheds light on mechanisms leading to myopia 

Myopia (short-sightedness) is increasing dramatically worldwide, but the causes are not known. In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at IoO and Moorfields, in collaboration with researchers at King’s College London, reported that one of the common genetic risk factors most strongly associated with myopia appears to alter the electrical signals generated by particular nerve cells in the retina.

The study was led by Omar Mahroo, Professor of Retinal Neuroscience at UCL and Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields, in collaboration with Dr Pirro Hysi and Professor Chris Hammond from King’s College London. The first authors were Xiaofan Jiang (PhD student at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) and Zihe Xu (PhD student at KCL). These findings are a step forward in understanding the mechanisms that lead to short sightedness.

Professor Mahroo said:

“The study finds an association between specific electrical signals generated by the retina in response to light and one of the genetic risk factors for short-sightedness (myopia). This is a step forward in understanding what causes myopia to develop.

The study was supported in part by Moorfields Eye Charity, the Wellcome Trust, Fight for Sight and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields and the Institute of Ophthalmology. 

Links

• Link to the paper "Electrical responses from human retinal cone pathways associate with a common genetic polymorphism implicated in myopia".
• Professor Omar Mahroo's UCL profile