Combination treatment based shows promise for treatment of retinal degenerations, drug repurposing study finds

Medical Xpress / University of Eastern Finland / Nature Communications ^ | July 22, 2024 | Henri Leinonen et al

[ConservativeMind]

Drug repurposing shows promise in the treatment of retinal degenerations, according to a new study. A combination treatment incorporating three existing drugs—tamsulosin, metoprolol and bromocriptine—slowed disease progression in pre-clinical retinopathy models.

Drug repurposing refers to the use of existing drugs to treat diseases or conditions that they were not originally developed or approved for. The new study focused on drug repurposing in the context of inherited retinal degenerations, IRDs.

IRDs are a group of genetic diseases that cause the deterioration of retinal anatomy and function, leading to gradual loss of vision and often blindness. Most IRDs are currently inaccessible therapeutically, comprising an unmet medical need for a substantial population worldwide.

The researchers found that a combination treatment incorporating three drugs significantly slowed disease progression and decreased disease manifestation in four different animal models of IRD. The combination included the blood pressure and heart failure drug metoprolol, and tamsulosin, which is used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, as well as the nowadays less commonly used Parkinson's disease drug bromocriptine.

In retinal degenerations, intracellular secondary messengers such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate and calcium are believed to be overactive, exacerbating the disease. Metoprolol, tamsulosin and bromocriptine suppress the activity of these secondary messengers via their own distinct cell membrane-receptor actions.

"We hypothesized that the combined effect of these drugs would alleviate the disease, which it indeed did in several distinct animal models of IRDs," Dr. Leinonen notes.

It is noteworthy that none of the drugs used in the study were effective against retinal degeneration on their own; instead, their combination was necessary for efficacy. According to Dr. Leinonen, the same phenomenon may apply to many diseases that are currently untreatable, and especially in multifactorial diseases, effective treatment may require multiple drugs to be used simultaneously.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: bromocriptine; eyes; eyesight; medicalxpress; metoprolol; retina; retinaldegeneration; tamsulosin

[ConservativeMind]

These three available drugs were identified and tested in mice for four different inherited retinal diseases - not acquired ones.

[ConservativeMind]

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[daku]

My late wife was experiencing macular degeneration based on a common genetic disorder based in the Ohio river region. There is some commonality for Native American people although her people are from the Louisiana area.
I wonder if this horseshit scattergun treatment could’ve alleviated some of her issues?

[ConservativeMind]

Their term for it was that it “significantly” helped.