Abstract: The exact pathogenesis of myopia and amblyopia is not well understood. Form-deprived myopia (FDM) and form-deprived amblyopia (FDA) have been used to study the pathogenesis of myopia and amblyopia. Glutamine (GLU) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are the most widely distributed excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system, and play important roles during the critical period of visual development, mediating synaptic plasticity not only in the visual cortex but also in the retinal nerve synapses. GLU, GABA and their related receptors are differentially altered in the formation and progression of FDM and FDA, and excitatory/inhibitory imbalance mechanisms are expressed in FDM and FDA. There have been many studies on GLU, GABA and related receptor antagonists to inhibit the formation and progression of FDM. Given the similarity of GLU and GABA related receptor expression in FDA and FDM models, it is worthwhile to further investigate whether these receptor antagonists could prevent or inhibit the formation of FDA, which is an important guideline for the development of clinical therapeutic drugs for amblyopia.(Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2022, 46: 143-149)

Key words: form-deprived myopia, form-deprived amblyopia, glutamine, γ-aminobutyric acid