Fig. 5

Blue light destroys the iBRB and impairs the retinal electrophysiology in vivo. To observe the retinal injuries in vivo, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to blue light (6 h per day, for consecutive 3 days), and ophthalmology examination battery was performed on days 1 and 5 (Additional file 1: Fig. S2A). A The abnormality in fundus and the leaking fluorescein were presented in blue light groups, as compared to the control and red light groups. The area of fluorescein leakage was quantified as described in Materials and Methods. An illuminance-dependent iBRB leakage presented by blue light B. Although no obvious damages in retinal architecture were identified in OCT-scanning images, but the retinal thickness seemed to atrophy C. The incidence of retinal abnormalities and the mean thickness of retina sublayers were summarized in Additional file 1: Tables S1 and 2, respectively. D, E Scotopic ERG recordings showed an illuminance-dependent damages in their amplitude after blue light treatments, as compared to either untreated or red-light-treated groups. F The quantified data affirmed the attenuation of the ERG amplitude in a-, b-, and c-wave upon blue light irradiation, of which the b-wave is preferentially affected. G A delayed ERG implicit time was also identified in 240 lx blue-light-treated group. (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, indicates statistical difference from the right eye of control mice). (H) The OPs appearing in the ascending limb of b-wave are thought to reflect the signal transmissions of the inner retina. The amplitude of OPs was dramatically diminished in respond to blue light stimulation. Taken together, blue light exposure impaired the retinal electrophysiology property by disturbing iBRB function