Abstract:

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of fluoxetine on the treatment of amblyopia in the amblyopic adult rat. Design Experimental study. Participants Amblyopic adult rats. Methods The rats were grouped to control, Flx2, Flx4, BFD up on different intervention. The rats of control group were drinked conventional water for 4 weeks. The rats of Flx2 and Flx4 group were drinked 20% fluoxetine drinking water for 2 and 4 weeks. Binocular form deprivation was performed on the rats of BFD group for 2 weeks.  Pattern visual evoked potential (PVEPs) were measured in each group after 1 week of covering of the nonamblyopic eye. Main Outcome Measures The amplitude of PVEP, the C/I VEP ratio and the HSD-Q. Results There was a increased response of the amblyopic eye（Flx4 group: from19.86±3.07 to 32.31±4.29 μv, Paired t test， t= -4.938, P＝0.001. BFD group: from 17.51±4.12 to 29.31±2.29 μv, Paired t test, t=-4.301，P＝0.001） and the C/I VEP ratio was changed in the rats of Flx4 （from 1.11±0.29 to 2.34±0.45, Paired t test， t= -2.743, P＝0.016）and BFD （from 1.04±0.28 to 2.45±0.29, Paired t test, t=-3.629, P＝0.007）group. There was statistically significant differience among the C/I VEP ratio of different interventions（F= 18.86, P＝0.018; Control vs Flx2: HSD-Q = 0.13, P＝0.175; Flx2 vs Flx4: HSD-Q=9.76, P＝0.013; Flx4 vs BFD: HSD-Q = 0.09, P＝0.350）. A reduction of the response to stimulation of the nonamblyopic eye (Paired t test，t=2.672, P＝0.047）was also performed in the BFD group. In contrast, one week of covering in the control group and Flx2 group did not change binocularity in the visual cortex of the amblyopic adult rat.  Conclusion Four weeks of 20% fluoxetine drinking and 2 weeks  of BFD may restore visual cortex plasticity in the amblyopic adult rat. Chronic administration of fluoxetine can promote the recovery of visual functions in adult amblyopic rats as tested electrophysiologically and may become a new therapy of adult amblyopia. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2017, 26: 61-65)

Key words: fluoxetine, visual cortex plasticity, amblyopia, pattern visual evoked potential, animal experiment