Emmanuel Buys
Massachusetts General Hospital
USA
Title: Targeting nitric oxide-cGMP signaling: therapeutic potential in POAG
Biography
Biography: Emmanuel Buys
Abstract
Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy characterized by visual field defects that ultimately leads to irreversible blindness. By the year 2020, an estimated 80 million people will have glaucoma, 11 million of which will be bilaterally blind. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type of glaucoma. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is currently the only risk factor amenable to treatment. How IOP is regulated and can be modulated remains a topic of active investigation. Available therapies, mostly geared towards lowering IOP, offer incomplete protection, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic approaches and drug targets. Impairment of the nitric oxide (NO)-soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway has been associated with POAG and NO-donors are being developed as novel IOP-lowering agents. This presentation will discuss pre-clinical and clinical studies, illustrating the connection between NO-cGMP signaling and POAG. In addition, pilot data will be presented describing the IOP lowering and/or neuroprotective capabilities of available therapeutics known to increase cGMP signaling.