Scientists have discovered compelling evidence for the cytoprotective and proregenerative effects of a neuropeptide in promoting corneal healing after eye injury.
Findings published in The American Journal of Pathology, 1 reveal administration of α-melanocyte– stimulating hormone (α-MSH) promotes corneal healing and restores normal eye function to an otherwise degenerating and diseased cornea by providing protection against cell death and promoting cell regeneration.
There is an urgent unmet need for safe and effective medical strategies for the prevention and reversal of persistent corneal oedema, according to the investigators at Mass Eye and Ear of the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology. Interventions to prevent corneal oedema following ocular injury are currently limited to topical hypertonic saline and topical anti-inflammatory drugs, which have limited efficacy. Patients suffering from corneal endothelial disease commonly require corneal transplantation.
The study, which examined the effect of local administration of α-MSH on persistent corneal oedema and endothelial regeneration, showed: it prevents corneal endothelial cell death; restores normal endothelial function; permits the cornea to resume normal thickness after a severe injury that normally leads to corneal thickening; and causes corneal cells to regenerate in an established model of injury-induced endothelial decompensation.
The authors said the results open new avenues of therapy. “Our data… provide compelling evidence for the therapeutic potential of this pathway for a wide array of ocular disorders such as Fuchs’ Dystrophy… as well as other disorders of the corneal endothelium that lead to corneal swelling”.2
References
- Alemi, H., Wang, S., Dana, R., et all., The neuropeptide a-melanocytee stimulating hormone prevents persistent corneal edema following injury, Am J Pathol 2024, 194: 150e164; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2023.09.007.
- Elsevier, Pioneering study indicates a potential treatment for corneal endothelial disease, reducing the need for corneal transplant (news released, 2 Jan 2024), available at: eurekalert.org/news-releases/1030089 (accessed 10 Jan 2024).
