New therapy or promising treatment for macular degenerative eye disease

Business, April 3 (Upi) -- A cytokine leukocyte interleukin-18 with immunomodulating is expected to be used to treat age-related macular degeneration, a "major breakthrough" in the treatment of common eye diseases in the elderly, Irish researchers reported Tuesday in the American journal Science Translational Medicineage-related macular degeneration is a common eye disease in the elderly, people with this disease of the retinal microvascular hyperplasia, macular gradually worsening, resulting in the centervisionblurred or blind spots, serious people can not read, watch TV, drive or use a computerIn animal experiments, researchers at Trinity College in Ireland,, found that leukocyte interleukin-18 effectively inhibits abnormal blood vessel hyperplasia beneath the retina, protecting the vision of elderly macular degeneration patientsIn addition, leukocyte interleukin-18 can be injected into the eyes of laboratory mice, which represents a major advance in the treatment of macular degeneration"Small doses of leukocyte interleukin-18 not only do not have side effects on the retina, but also inhibit abnormal vascular hyperplasia," said Sarah Doyle, lead author of thestudy"
macular degeneration is divided into dry and wet, the main cause of blindness is wet macular degenerationThe current treatment for wet macular degeneration is focused on inhibiting the activity of vascular endothelial growth factors, while leukocyte interleukin-18 can directly inhibit the growth of vascular endothelial growth factors, so their efficacy may last longer, the researchers saidnext step, researchers will conduct clinical trials of new therapies