Inserting encapsulated cells that excrete ciliary neurotrophic factor (Renexus, Neurotech) into the back of the eye could be a promising treatment for glaucoma, reports Ophthalmology Times.
Stanford University ophthalmology professor Dr Jeffrey Goldberg, said in the multicentre Phase II clinical trial, Humphrey Visual Field (HVF) values improved in eyes implanted with the capsules, but declined in eyes treated with sham surgery and in fellow eyes. He presented the preliminary findings at the Glaucoma 360 New Horizons Forum of the Glaucoma Research Foundation.
Ciliary neurotrophic factor is one of several neurotrophic factors produced by neurons or Mueller cells. It is expressed in the retina under stressful conditions such as experimental ocular hypertension and optic nerve trauma, and can protect photoreceptors. Animal studies have suggested it can mitigate vision loss due to photoreceptor death.
It was too early to draw conclusions about efficacy, Dr Goldberg said, but at the least, results showed the neuroprotection and neuroenhancement therapeutic candidates can be studied in glaucoma patients and proved the potential for merging therapeutic testing with biomarker exploratory endpoints for cross validation.
