Abstract
Purpose: :
Isopropyl unoprostone (IU) was reported to have neuroprotective effects on neurons in vitro and in vivo. We have shown that the mean retinal sensitivity measured by fundus-related microperimetry (MP-1) improved significantly in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) who were treated with topical IU (2008 ARVO). The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical demographics of the RP patients who responded positively to IU.
Methods: :
Thirty patients with typical RP who received topical IU were studied. Seventeen patients who had an improvement of mean retinal sensitivity ≥ 2 dB after 6 months of treatment with topical IU were placed in Group A, and the other 13 patients who did not show any improvement were placed in Group B. The differences in age, gender, genetic type of RP, grade of visual field defects determined by Goldmann perimetry (GP), mean deviation (MD) determined with a Humphrey field analyzer (HFA) 10-2, mean retinal sensitivity within the central 2 and 10 degrees obtained by MP-1, foveal thickness (FT), and presence of the IS/OS line by optical coherence tomography (OCT) were analyzed.
Results: :
The mean FT was 196.4±27.1 µm in Group A and 176.7±68.1 µm in Group B (P=0.03). The differences in age, gender, GP, MD of HFA, and the IS/OS line were not significantly different in the two groups.
Conclusions: :
These results suggest that topical IU improves the central retinal sensitivity in those RP patients with thicker FT, and IU has no effect on those with thin FT.
Keywords: retinal degenerations: hereditary • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials • neuroprotection