EYEDROPS IN PLACE OF AVASTIN IN WET MACULAR DEGENERATION

University of Birmingham develops revolutionary eye drops to treat age-related blindness

University of Birmingham Medical News

The results of collaborative research, published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, could spell the end of painful injections for age–related macular degeneration (AMD).

Scientists led by biochemist Dr Felicity de Cogan, from the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Inflammation and Aging, have invented a method of delivering the injected drug as an eye drop instead, and their laboratory research has obtained the same outcomes as the injected drug.

BIOMARKER PREDICTS VISION LOSS

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis News

Research in mice and patients suggests biomarker could predict vision loss.

Studying mouse models of glaucoma, Ban, Apte and their colleagues identified a molecule in the eye called growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), noting that the levels of the molecule increased as the animals aged and developed optic nerve damage.

"comparing the fluid from patients without glaucoma to those with glaucoma, the GDF15 biomarker was significantly elevated in the glaucoma patients,” Apte said. “We also found that higher levels of the molecule were associated with worse functional outcomes, so this biomarker seems to correlate with disease severity.”

Apte and Ban don’t believe that the molecule causes cells in the retina to die; rather, that it is a marker of stress in retinal cells.

VITAMIN K1 REDUCES RISK OF CATARACTS

(HealthDay)—High intake of vitamin K₁ is associated with reduced risk of cataracts, according to a study published online May 11 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

"High intake of dietary vitamin K₁ was associated with a reduced risk of cataracts in an elderly Mediterranean population even after adjusting by other potential confounders," the authors write.

LATANOPROST AND MYOPIC PROGRESSION

It has been shown that form deprivation stimulates axial length growth and hence myopia.  In a study presented at the annual meeting of ARVO, young guinea pigs undergoing form deprivation were administered either daily latanoprost or daily vehicle for 12 weeks.  Those that received vehicle had a .18 mm axial length increase vs. a .01mm axial length increase in the latanoprost group.  This suggests there may be a possibility that daily topical latanoprost may help stop progression of myopia, offering a potential new treatment for the condition. 

Pain reliever may help relieve the vision damage of glaucoma

Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University News

Researchers want to know if the powerful pain medicine (+)–pentazocine can help avoid the damage from glaucoma. 

Their focus is astrocytes that normally nourish and protect retinal ganglion cells, at the juncture where the optic nerve sends visual information to the brain so we can see. Glaucoma appears to change the relationship between these two brain cell types so that astrocytes move from supportive to destructive mode.

“The theory is that in glaucoma, astrocytes (which normally nourish and protect the retina), become toxic to neurons,” said Dr. Kathryn Bollinger, glaucoma specialist at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

The research team has evidence that treatment with (+)–pentazocine calms the astrocytes, prompting them to release brain–derived neurotrophic factor, known to promote healthy survival of neurons.

NEUROSTIMULATOR FOR DRY EYE

According the the American Academy of Ophthalmology:

The FDA approved TrueTear, an intranasal tear neurostimulator device designed to temporarily increase tear production in adult patients.

The handheld stimulator comes with daily disposable tips that are inserted into the nasal cavity for an effective, non–invasive and drug–free way to induce the production of tears.

Heart Pill for CSR

Researchers are leading a groundbreaking study into whether or not a drug used to treat heart failure, eplerenone, could save the sight of patients with recalcitrant central serous chorioretinopathy.