Melatonin as a Therapeutic Resource for Inflammatory Visual Diseases

Background: Uveitis and optic neuritis are prevalent ocular inflammatory diseases, and highly damaging ocular conditions. Both diseases are currently treated with corticosteroids, but they do not have adequate efficacy and are often associated with severe side effects. Thus, uveitis and optic neurit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Aranda, Marcos Luis, González Fleitas, María Florencia, Dieguez, Hernan, Iaquinandi, Agustina, Sande Casal, Pablo Horacio, Dorfman, Damián, Rosenstein, Ruth Estela
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/47144
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/47144
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Melatonin
Uveitis
Optic Neuritis
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Uveitis and optic neuritis are prevalent ocular inflammatory diseases, and highly damaging ocular conditions. Both diseases are currently treated with corticosteroids, but they do not have adequate efficacy and are often associated with severe side effects. Thus, uveitis and optic neuritis remain a challenging field to ophthalmologists and a significant public health concern. Objective: This review summarizes findings showing the benefits of a treatment with melatonin in experimental models of these inflammatory ocular diseases. Results: Oxidative and nitrosative damage, tumor necrosis factor, and prostaglandin production have been involved in the pathogeny of uveitis and optic neuritis. Melatonin is an efficient antioxidant and antinitridergic, and has the ability to reduce prostaglandin and tumor necrosis factor levels both in the retina and optic nerve. Moreover, melatonin not only prevents functional and structural consequences of experimental uveitis and optic neuritis, but it is also capable of suppressing the actively ongoing ocular inflammatory response. Conclusions: Since melatonin protects ocular tissues against inflammation, it could be a potentially useful anti-inflammatory therapy in ophthalmology.