Abstract
Blue light exposure can damage the retina, resulting in retinal atrophy and significant vision loss. Currently, no efficient animal models can observe retinal damage caused by blue light within a defined timeframe. Creating a BALB/c mouse model for blue light-induced retinal damage is expected to enhance research focused on the prevention and treatment of age-related macular degeneration. This study explores the potential effect of blue light exposure on the BALB/c mice model by analysing apoptosis and retinal degeneration. Anatomical Pathology Laboratory of Diponegoro University and The Integrated Research and Testing Laboratory of Gadjah Mada University. This study design was a posttest-only control group design. Ten five-week-old BALB/c mice were divided into two groups. The exposure group received 10,000 lux of blue light in the special cage for 2 weeks, 3 h daily. Caspase-3 expression was assessed through polymerase chain reaction testing, and retinal thickness was analyzed using hematoxylin and eosin staining. We used the Shapiro-Wilk test to evaluate data normality. Parametric t-tests and nonparametric Mann-Whitney tests were applied to compare groups, with P < 0.05 considered significant. The average whole retinal thickness of the exposed group was 152.812 ± 20.919 µm, while the control group was 214.948 ± 53.284 µm (P = 0.04). The average caspase-3 expression in the exposed group was 19.03 ± 8.57 µm, while the control group was 5.78 ± 2.63 µm (P = 0.011). This approach, utilizing animal models for blue light exposure, can be employed to learn about retinal damage caused by blue light.