Efficacy of ripasudil in reducing intraocular pressure and medication score for ocular hypertension with inflammation and corticosteroid

Abstract

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of ripasudil, a Rho kinase inhibitor, in reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) and medication scores of anti-glaucoma drugs in patients with ocular hypertension with inflammation and corticosteroid. METHODS: The study included 11 patients diagnosed with ocular hypertension with inflammation and corticosteroid, all of whom were prescribed ripasudil eye drops and followed up for at least 2y after the initiation of treatment. IOP was measured using a non-contact tonometer before enrollment and at each follow-up visit. The medication score of glaucoma eye drops was calculated for each patient. RESULTS: The mean IOP (26.4±2.9 mm Hg before treatment) significantly decreased after ripasudil therapy (13.7±3.3 mm Hg at 3mo) and remained stable in the low-teens during the 2-year follow-up period (P<0.0001). A significant decrease in the medication score was observed at 12mo or later after the initiation of ripasudil therapy (P<0.05). Both baseline medication scores and glaucomatous optic disc change rates were significantly higher in the five eyes that required glaucoma surgery during the 2-year observation period than the 10 eyes that did not require surgery. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate the efficacy of ripasudil, in reducing IOP and the medication score over a 2-year treatment period in patients with ocular hypertension with inflammation and corticosteroid. Our findings also suggest that ripasudil could reduce the IOP in uveitic glaucoma patients with both lower baseline medication score and lower glaucomatous optic disc change rate.

Ripasudil as a Potential Therapeutic Agent in Treating Secondary Glaucoma in HTLV-1-Uveitis: An In Vitro Analysis

“…Recent studies have focused on the anti-inflammatory effects of ripasudil [ 25 , 35 ]. Therefore, we used a cytometric bead array (CBA) to measure the levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines secreted by hTM cells ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…From these perspectives, our current study suggests that ripasudil, as demonstrated in vitro, may be a promising treatment. Other clinical studies have found ripasudil effective in glaucoma patients with ocular inflammation [ 25 ].…”

“…It has been well established that this ROCK inhibitor can effectively reduce IOP both in vitro and in vivo [ 13 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Several studies have shown that ripasudil can alleviate LPS-induced inflammation in RPE cells by targeting the miR-136-5p/ROCK/NLRP3 pathway [ 24 , 25 ]. Nevertheless, whether ripasudil inhibits hTM cell changes caused by HTLV-1 infection remains unknown.…”