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Gene Therapy may help Glaucoma PatientsCreated:August 11, 2005Researchers in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology at the Université de Montréal and the Department of Ophthalmology and Powell Gene Therapy Centre at the University of Florida have developed a novel gene therapy strategy that may treat glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. The study appeared in the Molecular Therapy journal’s Web site in June and will be published in the September, 2005, issue of the journal.Loss of vision in glaucomatous optic neuropathy is caused by the selective degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Current treatments for this disease, such as drugs that lower intraocular pressure and surgery, are often inefficient. “Elevated intraocular pressure is a risk factor for optic nerve damage in glaucoma, but this condition worsens in a large group of patients despite the use of medications that lower eye pressure. So there is great need for the development of alternative therapies to slow retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma,” according to Université de Montréal Professor Dr. Adriana Di Polo, senior author of the study. “At present, there are no effective neuroprotective strategies for the treatment of this disease.” The incidence of glaucoma increases dramatically with age and more than 2.2 million people in North America have the disease. In Canada, glaucoma is the second cause of blindness affecting 1 in 100 Canadians over the age of 40. “Our results provide proof-of-principle that gene therapy can be used to boost pro-survival pathways in retinal ganglion cells to protect them from glaucomatous damage” said Dr. Di Polo. “Gene therapy is gaining popularity for the treatment of diseases of the eye and this is an important step in that direction.” |