Ocular growth

Ocular growth refers to the complex physiological process of eye development and axial elongation, which is critical for achieving emmetropia, or normal vision [12, 13]. During development, the eye expands to match its optical power to its physical length; however, excessive growth leads to myopia (nearsightedness), where the eye becomes too long, causing light to focus in front of the retina [3, 4]. This process is governed by a signaling cascade initiated by visual stimuli in the retina, which is then relayed through the retinal pigment epithelium and choroid to the sclera, ultimately triggering extracellular matrix remodeling [4, 8, 11]. In pharmacological research, ocular growth is treated as a phenotypic target where the objective is to decelerate axial elongation to prevent high-myopia-related complications like retinal detachment [3, 9]. While not a single molecule, this process is clinically modulated by drugs targeting specific receptors, most notably muscarinic acetylcholine receptors and dopaminergic systems [1, 2, 8]. Current therapeutic strategies focus on stabilizing the axial length in pediatric populations to minimize long-term ocular morbidity [3, 11].

Other names

Axial elongationEye growthRefractive developmentEmmetropizationMyopization

Drugs modulate ocular growth by targeting specific molecular receptors, such as muscarinic acetylcholine receptors or dopamine receptors, to inhibit scleral remodeling and decelerate axial elongation.