MOSCOW, September 26The loss of eye cells responsible for the perception of light is associated with depression, scientists from Tyumen Medical University (TMU) have discovered. According to them, the study in the future will improve the effectiveness of the fight against glaucoma and develop a new approach to the treatment of certain types of depression. The results were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative pathology that is accompanied by an increase in intraocular pressure, gradually leading to a decrease or loss of vision. According to experts, older people are especially susceptible to the disease.
The most unfavorable consequence of glaucoma is the death of special cells that perceive light, the so-called retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Among these cells, as the scientists explained, there are special melanopsin cells associated with the body’s biological clock and with the “mood center” in the brain.
TMU researchers were able to show that with death of more than 15% GCS, when damage affects melanopsin cells, mood disturbances occur, directly related to the feeling of lack of light.
«»Many people know how mood can change depending on whether it is sunny or cloudy outside. The loss of light-sensitive cells does not allow a person to fully experience the joy of light. This fact plays a significant role in the prevention and treatment of both glaucoma and depression» , — said Denis Gubin, head of the chronobiology laboratory at the Research Institute of Biomedical Technologies, professor of the Department of Biology at Tyumen Medical University.
By controlling the parameters of artificial light, it is possible to ensure that the positive effects “tied” to daylight are activated in the brain even when the RGC is damaged, the scientists explained. According to them, the study will make it possible in the future to develop personalized regimens for such therapy.
«Not only were we, for the first time in the world, able to objectively assess the connection between worsening mood due to disturbances in biological rhythms and the active loss of specific melanopsin GCS , but also discovered a candidate gene that can enhance this dependence,” Gubin noted.
In the future, the team of scientists intends to explore the possibilities of personalized therapy aimed at correcting the mood and biological clock of both patients with glaucoma and and persons in whom such disorders are associated with other factors.
Tyumen Medical University is a participant in the state support program for universities of the Russian Federation «Priority-2030».