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Neuroprotective therapies in glaucoma: I. Neurotrophic factor delivery
Author(s) -
Nafissi Nafiseh,
Foldvari Marianna
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1939-0041
pISSN - 1939-5116
DOI - 10.1002/wnan.1361
Subject(s) - neuroprotection , glaucoma , neurotrophic factors , medicine , neuroscience , retinal ganglion cell , intraocular pressure , ophthalmology , optic nerve , biology , pharmacology , receptor
Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative eye disease that causes permanent blindness at the progressive stage and the number of people affected worldwide is expected to reach over 79 million by 2020. Currently, glaucoma management relies on pharmacological and invasive surgical treatments mainly by reducing the intraocular pressure ( IOP ), which is the most important risk factor for the progression of the visual field loss. Recent research suggests that neuroprotective or neuroregenerative approaches are necessary to prevent retinal ganglion cells ( RGCs ) loss and visual impairment over time. Neuroprotection is a new therapeutic strategy that attempts to keep RGCs alive and functional. New gene and cell therapeutics encoding neurotrophic factors ( NTFs ) are emerging for both neuroprotection and regenerative treatments for retinal diseases. This article briefly reviews the role of NTFs in glaucoma and the potential delivery systems. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2016, 8:240–254. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1361 This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Neurological Disease Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology