Interactions between genetic variants and near-work activities in incident myopia in schoolchildren: a 4-year prospective longitudinal study

Abstract

Clinical relevance: Knowledge of interactions between genetic variants and near-work activities at the onset of myopia can facilitate health education regarding myopia. Background: To investigate the interactions between genetic variants (PDE10A, AREG and GABRR1) and near-work activities in the onset of myopia in southeastern Chinese school children. Methods: A total of 458 non-myopic, grade 1 children aged 6–7 years were included in a 4-year follow-up examination; 409 children were assessed further. Manifest (non-cycloplegic) refraction and axial length (AL) were measured every year, and questionnaires were administered annually to assess information regarding the demographic characteristics of children, near-work activities, outdoor exposure and parental myopia. Oral mucosa was collected in the last year of follow-up, and Sanger sequencing was used to genotype single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA. Results: The cumulative change in the spherical equivalent refraction (SER) over 4 years was −1.20 ± 1.00 D, and the proportion of children with incident myopia was 42.9%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that an increased amount of time spent doing homework (>2 h/d) was an independent risk factor for incident myopia. The PDE10A rs12206610CT genotype and spending > 5 h/d on near-work activities showed an interaction for incident myopia (OR = 4.29, 95% CI: 1.27-14.53; P interaction = 0.02); moreover, the rs12206610CT genotype carriers who used electronic devices for > 1 h/d displayed an increased risk of incident myopia (OR = 3.43, 95% CI: 1.07-11.01; P interaction = 0.043). Conclusions: The rs2206610CT genotype carriers with near-work activities of >5 h/d were more likely to show incident myopia, especially those who used electronic devices >1 h/d. However, interactions between the rs12206610 SNP and near-work activities require further verification in animal models and larger sample cohorts.