Sristi Raj Rai, Amity University Kolkata
The whole science behind your vision lies in the screen behind your eyeballs. The screen on which the image is formed is called the retina without which the optic nerve cannot send signals to one’s brain. The retina is made up of 2 types of cells – ones responsible for scotopic (night) vision are the rods (containing rhodopsin pigment) and the other is the cones (containing iodopsin pigment) responsible for photopic (color) vision. Like all other parts of our body, the retina also ages but at a much faster rate. Why so? It is because of the inability of the mitochondria to keep up with their work.
Retina has the highest density of mitochondria that produces adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to meet the high energy demand of the photoreceptors (rods & cones). These cells that are exposed to photons require a higher amount of energy as compared to other cells. This requirement becomes a problem with an increase in age. The membrane potential of the mitochondria drops resulting in a decrease in ATP synthesis. As a result of which activation of apoptotic pathway takes place by the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that in turn triggers various signaling pathways. Therefore, these cells age faster as the mitochondrial activity decreases and so does retinal function.
In order to improve the function of the photoreceptors, researchers at University College London, UK, and Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany, carried out a photobiomodulation pilot study with a small sample size. They have briefly exposed individuals (>40 years of age) daily to a longer wavelength of light (670 nm – invisible infrared zone) for 2 weeks. By doing so they were able to measure the rod and cone function. The result from the study showed a positive impact on the mitochondria thereby improving the photoreceptor function in aged humans. One out of the two-color systems of cones is Tritan (blue visual) axis which improved significantly by 22% (approx.). Rod function (carried out in mouse) and the proton (red visual) axis also showed an improvement. But, further studies are required to pinpoint the route of action and the exact elements of mitochondria that absorb this light. Even, how light at a different time of day impacts the functionality is still unknown to us.
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SOURCE – Shinhmar, H., Grewal, M., Sivaprasad, S., Hogg, C., Chong, V., Neveu, M. and Jeffery, G., 2020. Optically Improved Mitochondrial Function Redeems Aged Human Visual Decline. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 75(9), pp.e49-e52.
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