Investigative ophthalmology & visual scienceJan 22, 2015

Normal dopamine levels in the retina of mice with vision loss caused by eye covering

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 29, 2026

Abstract

No significant changes in retinal dopamine levels were detected in form-deprived eyes of C57BL/6 mice.

Form-deprivation myopia was successfully induced in C57BL/6 mice, resulting in significant refractive errors in deprived eyes compared to fellow eyes.
Retinal dopamine, DOPAC, dopamine transporter expression, and vitreal DOPAC levels did not show significant differences in deprived eyes, either during the day or at night.
The number and area of dopaminergic amacrine cells, as well as retinal expression of tyrosine hydroxylase, remained unchanged in deprived eyes.
These findings suggest that the retinal dopamine system is intact in C57BL/6 mice with form-deprivation myopia.
Retinal dopamine levels appear not to be associated with the development of form-deprivation myopia in this mouse strain.

Simplified

PURPOSE: Retinal dopamine has been long implicated in the signaling pathway regulating eye growth, as evidenced by its reduced levels in myopic eyes in various species. We examined whether and how retinal dopamine levels were changed in a C57BL/6 mouse model of experimental myopia.

METHODS: Form-deprivation myopia (FDM) was induced in C57BL/6 mice by wearing monocular occluder for 4 weeks. Refractive errors were measured using an infrared photorefractor. Retinal dopamine/DOPAC and vitreal DOPAC levels were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Extracellular dopamine concentrations were examined by Western blot analysis of dopamine transporter (DAT) expression levels. The intactness of retinal dopaminergic system was evaluated by counting tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive cells, measuring the areas occupied by processes of these cells, and quantifying retinal TH expression at both protein and transcription levels.

RESULTS: Form-deprivation myopia was successfully induced in C57BL/6 mice with the refractive status of deprived eyes being significantly different from fellow eyes. Unlike most of the previous results obtained in other myopic animal models, however, no significant changes in retinal dopamine, DOPAC, DAT, and vitreal DOPAC levels were detected in deprived eyes, either in the daytime or at night. Furthermore, neither the number of dopaminergic amacrine cells, the area size occupied by the processes of these cells, nor retinal TH expression, were altered in deprived eyes.

CONCLUSIONS: The retinal dopamine system remains intact in C57BL/6 mice with FDM, and retinal dopamine levels are not associated with the development of FDM in this mouse strain.

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Normal dopamine levels in the retina of mice with vision loss caused by eye covering

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