Efficacy and Tolerability of Topical 0.05% Flunarizine in Patients With Open-angle Glaucoma or Ocular Hypertension—A Pilot Study

Protection of retinal ganglion cells in glaucoma: Current status and future

Glaucoma is a neuropathic disease that causes optic nerve damage, loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and visual field defects. Most glaucoma patients have no early signs or symptoms. Conventional pharmacological glaucoma medications and surgeries that focus on lowering intraocular pressure are not sufficient; RGCs continue to die, and the patient's vision continues to decline. Recent evidence has demonstrated that neuroprotective approaches could be a promising strategy for protecting against glaucoma. In the case of glaucoma, neuroprotection aims to prevent or slow down disease progression by mitigating RGCs death and optic nerve degeneration. Notably, new pharmacologic medications such as antiglaucomatous agents, antibiotics, dietary supplementation, novel neuroprotective molecules, neurotrophic factors, translational methods such as gene therapy and cell therapy, and electrical stimulation-based physiotherapy are emerging to attenuate the death of RGCs, or to make RGCs resilient to attacks. Understanding the roles of these interventions in RGC protection may offer benefits over traditional pharmacological medications and surgeries. In this review, we summarize the recent neuroprotective strategy for glaucoma, both in clinical trials and in laboratory research.

Distribution of intraocular pressure and its determinants in an Iranian adult population

AIM

To determine the distribution of intraocular pressure (IOP) and its determinants in an Iranian population.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional survey, random cluster sampling was conducted from the 40-64 years old population of Shahroud, in the north of Iran. All participants had optometry and ophthalmic exams. IOP was determined using the Goldmann tonometry method and biometric components were measured.

RESULTS

Of the 6311 people selected for the study, 5190 (82.2%) participated. The mean age of the participants was 50.9±6.2y and 58.7% of them were female. Mean IOP was 12.87±2.27 mm Hg. In this study 0.3% of the participants had an IOP higher than 21 mm Hg. The multiple linear regression model revealed that sex (Coef=-0.30; 95% CI: -0.43 to -0.17), diabetes (Coef=0.43; 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.67), high systolic blood pressure (Coef=0.02; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.02), high body mass index (BMI) (Coef=0.03; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04), higher education (Coef=0.02, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04), thicker central corneal thickness (Coef=0.01; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.02), and myopic shift in spherical equivalent (Coef=-0.14; 95% CI: -0.18 to -0.10) significantly correlated with high IOP.

CONCLUSION

The IOP in this 40-64 years old population is low overall. In the north of Iran, average IOP is statistically significantly correlated with female sex, diabetes, higher BMI, systolic blood pressure, higher education, thicker cornea, and myopic refractive error.