Research progress of retinoic acid in experimental myopia

Myopia is one of the most common ocular problems, which causes visual dysfunction.The prevalence of myopia is increasing, while the prevention and treatment have made no breakthrough because the pathogenesis and mechanism of myopia remains unclear.Certain kinds of molecules were reported to play a role in myopia, such as dopamine, retinoic acid, glucagon, ZENK(Zif269、EGR-1、NGFI-A or Krox-24)etc.As a derivative of vitamin A, retinoic acid is the final metabolite of retinaldehyde, which combines to opsin in the photoreceptor cells on retina.Previous studies demonstrated that retinoic acid from choroid and retina plays significant roles in the development of myopia, which affects different molecules related to myopia development, including transforming growth factor-β, glycosaminoglycan, matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase(TIMP)-2.Based on the synthesis, mechanism and effects of the retinoic acid in the eye, this paper describes the new progress of retinoic acid in experimental myopia, including form deprivation myopia, defocus induced myopia and monochromatic myopia, hence offers new clues for the research on the mechanism of myopia.