A novel in vitro model for screening and evaluation of anti-asthenopia drugs

Abstract

Patients suffering asthenopia are steadily increasing with an expanding use of visual display terminals such as computers. An attempt was made to develop an in vitro model for asthenopia. Ciliary muscle removed from eyeballs of a rabbit was stimulated with acethylcholine, resulting in contraction of the muscle. Repeated stimulations caused decreased contraction, which may be related to fatiguing of ciliary muscle and hence asthenopia. Treatment of the repeatedly stimulated muscle with cyanocobalamin restored contraction dose-dependently. Thus, the model developed in this study can be used to screen drug candidates for treating asthenopia.