Macrophage Migration Inhibitor (MIF) Therapeutics for Neuroprotection and Prevention of Scar in Traumatic Retinal Detachment
Abstract
Retinal detachment (RD) is a prevalent cause of blindness that is common after ocular injury to military personnel. Permanent vision loss occurs due to death of photoreceptors and formation of excessive scar tissue, known as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). There are no effective pharmaceuticals to prevent these problems. The inflammatory protein, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), is produced at high levels in RD and PVR, as well as in excitotoxic (NMDA-mediated) damage, which is important in blast injury. The proposed research will test the ability of different clinically-relevant MIF inhibitors to block photoreceptor death and abnormal healing after RD or NMDA damage in different animal models. One of these drugs, ibudilast, has already been approved for human use in Japan as an anti-inflammatory agent and is currently undergoing clinical trials in the US as a neuroprotective agent for several neurologic diseases. This research will have considerable promise for treating ocular disease triggered by military injuries. We hope it will provide ground work for a clinical trial in patients, which could one day lead to therapeutics that could prevent vision loss.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1160524
Entities
People
- Colleen Cebulla
- Elizabeth Urbanski
- Sumaya Hamadmad
- Tyler Heisler-Taylor
Organizations
- Ohio State University