RNA Interference In Model Systems Of Macular Degeneration.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$166,500.00
Summary
Exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible severe vision loss in the elderly, with an estimated 25-30 million people worldwide blind due to AMD. There is currently no standard treatment for AMD. A safe, specific and effective pharmacologic agent for AMD, therefore, has enormous therapeutic, social and economic benefits. AMD is underpinned by vascular leakiness and new blood vessel formation. We have demonstrated that Egr-1, a nuclear transcription f ....Exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible severe vision loss in the elderly, with an estimated 25-30 million people worldwide blind due to AMD. There is currently no standard treatment for AMD. A safe, specific and effective pharmacologic agent for AMD, therefore, has enormous therapeutic, social and economic benefits. AMD is underpinned by vascular leakiness and new blood vessel formation. We have demonstrated that Egr-1, a nuclear transcription factor, plays a key regulatory role in a diverse array of angiogenic processes. In this project, we will use novel gene-targeting agents (Egr-1 siRNA) to provide preclinical proof-of principle evidence of their therapeutic potential in established animal models of AMD. These studies will pre-empt Phase IA safety trials in AMD patients.Read moreRead less
A Functional Predictive Test For Age-related Macular Degeneration
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$532,500.00
Summary
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in our community. It is a progressive, late onset disease affecting central vision. Signs of disease are present in 15% of the population over 50 years with severe visual loss affecting increasing numbers in each subsequent decade. By 90 years 25% of people will have lost significant vision. There is no prevention, and treatment options are limited and have little impact on the rates of blindness. AMD causes enormous person ....Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in our community. It is a progressive, late onset disease affecting central vision. Signs of disease are present in 15% of the population over 50 years with severe visual loss affecting increasing numbers in each subsequent decade. By 90 years 25% of people will have lost significant vision. There is no prevention, and treatment options are limited and have little impact on the rates of blindness. AMD causes enormous personal costs and places a massive burden on health resources. The high prevalence, anticipated increase in the ageing population and the limited treatment options, highlight the urgency with which research is required. The early clinical signs of AMD are yellow deposits called drusen, in the central retina (macula) and alteration in retinal pigmentation. As AMD progresses the macula is damaged either through atrophy (holes) or by growth of blood vessels. Currently, clinically accessible information about drusen and pigmentary changes are used to grade the severity of disease and predict the risk of progression to vision loss. This at risk group is recruited into prevention and intervention studies looking for new interventions. Such scoring of clinical characteristics currently underpins all clinical trials and epidemiological research in AMD. However this scheme is not without limitations, and results in an inexact correlation between clinical appearance and risk of blindness. We believe that a test of retinal function, (ability to see in the dark, to detect a faint light), will provide a better correlation for identifying patients at high risk of vision loss. We aim to test various aspects of retinal function (in both the light and dark and for moving and stationary objects) in subjects with early clinical signs of AMD, to identify parameters that will be more sensitive and specific predictors of risk of progression to visually devastating complications of AMD.Read moreRead less
Control Of Refractive Error Through Ionically Driven Fluid Movements
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$208,600.00
Summary
Myopia affects about half the world's population with recent studies suggesting epidemic proportions among some Asian schoolchildren though we are not seeing this in Australia. Costs associated with detection, monitoring and optical correction of low and high myopia are huge. High myopes (15% with > 6D) also have a greatly increased risk of blindness between the ages of 30 and 50 years due to secondary disorders associated with impaired fluid balance (retinal and choroidal oedema, macula oede ....Myopia affects about half the world's population with recent studies suggesting epidemic proportions among some Asian schoolchildren though we are not seeing this in Australia. Costs associated with detection, monitoring and optical correction of low and high myopia are huge. High myopes (15% with > 6D) also have a greatly increased risk of blindness between the ages of 30 and 50 years due to secondary disorders associated with impaired fluid balance (retinal and choroidal oedema, macula oedema, retinal detachment and glaucoma). Currently there is no accepted pharmaceutical treatment for myopia though our studies in chick have provided the theoretical rationale and experimental data for a potential therapy and patent. This patent is now at the PCT stage and attests that changes in the abundance of the ions of the subretinal space control fluid movements across the retina to choroid and can be modulated therapeutically by diuretics to control fluid flow and hence axial growth and myopia. This application aims to take our current knowledge about fluid control in myopic chick into a mammalian model prior to preclinical trials in monkey. We anticipate it will take 1 year to establish the feasibility of diuretic control of experimentally induced myopic refractive errors in guinea pigs and the best drug and best the dosage range. These studies will contribute to the scientific understanding and bring the proposed pharmaceutical therapy for myopia in adults and children to a point of full commercialization. We believe that the results found in chick will have significance for early and late-onset myopia in humans as it is highly likely that the same mechanisms of ocular growth regulation operate throughout life.Read moreRead less