Abstract:
Objective To investigate the effect of lificiguat (YC-1) on refractive development in guinea pigs with lens-induced myopia (LIM).
Methods Twenty-seven 4-week-old tricolor guinea pigs were selected and divided into the LIM, LIM+YC-1, and Normal groups (n = 9 in each group). The right eyes of the LIM group underwent lens-induced myopia modeling and were injected with DMSO solution; the right eyes of the LIM+YC-1 group underwent modeling and were injected with YC-1 solution; the right eyes of guinea pigs in the Normal group received no treatment. The left eyes in all three groups remained untreated. Refractive error and axial length (AL) of bilateral eyes in all groups were measured weekly using retinoscopy and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively. Anterior segment and fundus photography were performed weekly to assess the ocular toxicity of lificiguat. After 4 weeks, the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1α1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) proteins in the right sclera were detected by Western blot, respectively.
Results At 4 weeks, the right eyes of animals in the LIM+YC-1 group exhibited significantly lower refractive error (P = 0.010) and shorter axial length (P = 0.009) compared to those in the LIM group. The expression levels of HIF-1α, α-SMA, and MMP-2 proteins in the LIM+YC-1 group were significantly lower than those in the LIM group (P HIF-1α = 0.001, P α-SMA = 0.001, P MMP-2 = 0.001), respectively. Conversely, the expression levels of COLl1α1 and TIMP-2 were significantly higher in the LIM+YC-1 group compared to those in the LIM group (P COL1α1 = 0.033, P TIMP-2 = 0.001). No ocular surface damage, refractive media opacity or fundus changes were observed in any guinea pigs following intravitreal injections of lificiguat during the experimental period.
Conclusions Lificiguat effectively inhibits the progression of myopia in LIM guinea pigs. No short-term ocular toxicity is induced by lificiguat throughout the short-term experiment.