![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Karunarathne-blue-light-research-by-Dan.jpg\")
<\/a>Dr. Ajith Karunarathne examined toxic oxygen generation by retinal during blue light exposure.<\/p><\/div>\u201cWe are being exposed to blue light continuously, and the eye\u2019s cornea and lens cannot block or reflect it,\u201d Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye\u2019s retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop.\u201d <\/p>\n
Macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease that results in significant vision loss starting on average in a person\u2019s 50s or 60s, is the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need molecules called retinal to sense light and trigger a cascade of signaling to the brain. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou need a continuous supply of retinal molecules if you want to see,\u201d Karunarathne said. \u201cPhotoreceptors are useless without retinal, which is produced in the eye.\u201d <\/p>\n
Karunarathne\u2019s lab found that blue light exposure causes retinal to trigger reactions that generate poisonous chemical molecules in photoreceptor cells. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves,\u201d Kasun Ratnayake, a PhD student researcher working in Karunarathne\u2019s cellular photo chemistry group, said. \u201cPhotoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they\u2019re dead, they\u2019re dead for good.\u201d <\/p>\n
Karunarathne introduced retinal molecules to other cell types in the body, such as cancer cells, heart cells and neurons. When exposed to blue light, these cell types died as a result of the combination with retinal. Blue light alone or retinal without blue light had no effect on cells. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo activity is sparked with green, yellow or red light,\u201d Karunarathne said. \u201cThe retinal-generated toxicity by blue light is universal. It can kill any cell type.\u201d <\/p>\n
The researcher found that a molecule called alpha tocopherol, a vitamin E derivative and a natural antioxidant in the eye and body, stops the cells from dying. However, as a person ages or the immune system is suppressed, people lose the ability to fight against the attack by retinal and blue light. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is when the real damage occurs,\u201d Karunarathne said. <\/p>\n
The lab currently is measuring light coming from television, cell phone and tablet screens to get a better understanding of how the cells in the eyes respond to everyday blue light exposure. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the amount of light coming out of your cell phone, it\u2019s not great but it seems tolerable,\u201d Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said. \u201cSome cell phone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea.\u201d <\/p>\n
To protect your eyes from blue light, Karunarathne advises to wear sunglasses that can filter both UV and blue light outside and avoid looking at cell phones or tablets in the dark. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year more than two million new cases of age-related macular degeneration are reported in the United States,\u201d Karunarathne said. \u201cBy learning more about the mechanisms of blindness in search of a method to intercept toxic reactions caused by the combination of retinal and blue light, we hope to find a way to protect the vision of children growing up in a high-tech world.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, UT assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is studying how blue light from digital devices and the sun leads to macular degeneration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,1,3,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50697"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50774,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50697\/revisions\/50774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}