Study finds preventive and therapeutic measures for optic nerve hypoplasia

Researchers at VTC’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute are looking at new prevention and therapy techniques for optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), a condition that causes neonatal visual impairment. The illness occurs when the optic nerves that transmit information from the retina to the brain are not fully formed at birth, leading to moderate to severe vision loss in children, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It has no known cause, and families that are affected have few treatment alternatives.

Virginia Tech scientists, led by lead investigator Konark Mukherjee, will investigate whether a prenatal shortage of an essential fatty acid known as arachidonic acid contributes to the illness with the help of a four-year, USD 1.56 million grant from the National Eye Institute of the NIH.

If this is the case, it might explain why ONH in neonates has been linked to variables including young maternal age and prenatal exposure to smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and other agents.

Mukherjee’s study will continue to see if arachidonic acid supplementation helps or prevents ONH in two other animal models of the illness.

“Currently, there are no effective medical treatments, but if we are correct, the intervention may be a simple nutritional supplementation for the population at risk,” said Mukherjee, whose research seeks to better understand neurodevelopment and provide new insights into childhood illnesses.

According to the NIH, optic nerve hypoplasia accounts for 15 per cent to 25 per cent of newborns with severe vision loss, and while exact figures are lacking, the condition appears to be on the rise.