The effect on intraocular pressure of Latanoprost with once every other day dosing in glaucoma patients

AIM: To evaluate the effect on intraocular pressure(IOP)of Latanoprost 0.005%(Lataprost, Sina Darou, Iran)applied every other day. METHODS: Patients with well controlled open angle glaucoma were enrolled in the study. All patients had been given Latanoprost for at least 2 months with once daily dose at bed time at the first phase of the study. After recovery of 3 normal consecutive IOPs, the dosage was altered to once every other day at bed-time and they were closely monitored at week 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 within second phase of the study and IOPs were measured. As soon as an abnormally elevated IOP was encountered, patient was excluded from the study and the prior regimen was reestablished. RESULTS:This study included 53 eyes of 53 patients(29 male, 24 female; age range 52-82 years)with open angle glaucoma. Twenty-seven patients suffered from primary open angle glaucoma and 26 patients had pseudoexfoliative glaucoma. After beginning the second phase of the study, a mild trend of increasing IOP was recordable. A corresponding trend was even detected in female and male patients separately. The P values at week 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 were 0.003, 0.001, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.000 respectively. In the first 2 weeks after initiation of the 2nd phase, 66% of cases have no change in IOPs, but thereafter, 69.8%, experienced increasing IOPs. CONCLUSION: The present study shows the superiority of the conventional dosage of Latanoprost 0.005% in comparison with once every other day dose but at least in first few weeks, the IOPs are reasonably close to each other. Further studies with higher number of cases would widen the present findings

Osteoprotegerin and Soluble Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Ligand in Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Calcification and inflammation are among the important cases of exudative age-related macular degeneration (E-ARMD). The aim of the present study was to elucidate if there is any relationship between serum Osteoprotegerin (OPG), soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANK-ligand) and E-ARMD. In a cross-sectional study, we compared 45 E-ARMD patients with 45 matched controls. Diagnosis was confirmed by fluorescein angiography. Serum samples were analyzed for OPG, RANK-ligand, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG). The levels of OPG and RANK-ligand were measured by ELISA methods. The mean age was 72.0±11.5 years in the E-ARMD group and 68.2±8.9 years in the control group (p=0.09). The level of serum OPG was 132.10±75.49 pg/ml in the E-ARMD group and 94.88±61.65 pg/ml in the control subjects. E-ARMD patients had significantly high levels of OPG (p=0.012), as well as significantly high levels of LDL-C and TC (p=0.001 and p=0.005, respectively). We could not find any significant difference in RANK-ligand, HDL-C, or TG between two study groups (p>0.05). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the levels of OPG in E-ARMD patients. The present study showed that E-ARMD patients had high levels of serum OPG. It may act as a protective factor for E-ARMD or only as a secondary phenomenon of different processes of E-ARMD. Further prospective studies would be necessary for prognostic and predictive significance of OPG in patients affected by E-ARMD