The study found that both short-term (2 days) and long-term (10 days) exposure to low-intensity blue light (150 lx) damaged the retinas of albino Wistar rats. The authors confirmed that prolonged exposure reduced the length and complexity of dendrites in the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which produce the photopigment melanopsin. Both short- and long-term exposure increased retinal protein immunoreactivity and caused a loss of retinal cells. The study further demonstrated that long-term exposure damaged the mitochondria in retinal ganglion cells. The results of the study confirm that prolonged exposure to light sources with short wavelengths of harmful blue light (415-455 nm) is undesirable due to retinal damage and an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that leads to gradual vision loss.
Prolonged exposure to blue light damages photoreceptors in the retina
The authors confirm that photoreceptor damage occurs for long-term exposure, while even short-term exposure to blue light increases cell mortality rate. The results confirm that prolonged exposure causes mitochondrial swelling in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and the inner plexiform layer (IPL), suggesting that blue light exposures puts RGCs under oxidative stress, which causes their gradual irreversible damage, increasing the risk of premature macular degeneration of the retina.
