Lipid mediators may stop progress of glaucoma

Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness that affects about 80 million people around the world and has no cure.

New research takes a look at a naturally occurring molecules known as lipid mediators as a treatment that may potentially stop the progress of glaucoma. Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley used both rats and mice in the study and found that anti-inflammatory lipid mediators known as lipoxins stopped the deterioration of retinal ganglion cells in rodents with glaucoma. Lipoxins were injected into the affected rodents eight weeks after the onset of the glaucoma-like damage. The rodents were then checked at 16 weeks and the researchers found that the lipoxin had stopped the degeneration of the cells. Researchers are encouraged by their findings and further study is planned. A patent application has been filed to be able to use lipoxins to treat glaucoma and neurodegenerative diseases and eventually test them in humans.