Therapeutic benefit of melatonin for glaucoma

ROSENSTEIN RE; MORENO MC; SANDE PH; MIRANDA M; ARANDA M; GONZÁLEZ FLEITAS MF; BELFORTE N

New Developments in Melatonin Research

Nova Science Publishers

Año: 2012;

Abstract Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, characterized by specific visual field defects due to the loss of retinal ganglion cells and damage to the optic nerve head. Ocular hypertension is probably the most important risk factor in primary angle open glaucoma, the more frequent form of glaucoma. Besides ocular hypertension, several concomitant factors such as elevation of synaptic glutamate levels and decrease in GABA levels, altered NO metabolism, and oxidative damage could significantly contribute to the neurodegeneration. Although the current management of glaucoma is mainly directed at the control of intraocular pressure, a therapy that prevents the death of retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve head fiber loss should be the main goal of treatment. Several lines of evidence strongly support that melatonin behaves as a neuroprotector in experimental animal models of various neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. In this chapter, we will consider evidence supporting that melatonin which decreases glutamate synaptic levels, NO production, and oxidative damage, increases GABA synaptic levels, and prevents retinal ganglion cell and optic nerve fiber loss induced by chronic ocular hypertension, could be considered as a new therapeutic resource for the management of glaucoma.