Effects of topical pilocarpine on ocular growth and refractive development in rabbits

This study aimed to investigate whether topical pilocarpine affects ocular growth and refractive development as well as the underlying biochemical processes in early eye development in rabbits.

Twenty three-week-old New Zealand white rabbits were treated with 0.5% pilocarpine in the right eye for 6 weeks. The left eyes served as contralateral controls. The effects of pilocarpine on refractive error, corneal curvature and ocular biometrics were assessed using streak retinoscopy, keratometry, and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively. Eyeballs were enucleated for histological analysis. The ciliary body and sclera were homogenized to determine the mRNA and protein expression levels of five subtypes of muscarinic receptors.

Compared to control eyes, pilocarpine-treated eyes exhibited approximately -1.63 ± 0.54 D myopia accompanied by a 0.11 ± 0.04 mm increase in axial length (AL) (p < 0.001, respectively). The anterior chamber depth (ACD) was reduced, whereas the lens thickness (LT) and vitreous chamber depth (VCD) increased (p < 0.001, respectively). Corneal curvature decreased over time but was not significantly different between treated and control eyes. The mRNA and protein expression levels of five subtypes of muscarinic receptors were upregulated in the ciliary body and downregulated in the sclera.

Based on these results, pilocarpine can induce myopic shift, increase LT, elongate VCD and AL, and reduce muscarinic receptor expression in the sclera early in development. These changes raise the possibility that pilocarpine may promote axial elongation in ocular development and facilitate the emmetropization of hyperopic eyes.