From bench to clinic: Emerging therapies for corneal scarring.

Jan 23, 2023

Experts: Gink N Yang,Philippe Ke Roberts,Jesse Gardner-Russell,Manisha H Shah,Terry A Couper,Zhuoting Zhu,Graeme A Pollock,Gregory J Dusting,Mark Daniell

Corneal diseases are one of the leading causes of moderate-to-severe visual impairment and blindness worldwide, after glaucoma, cataract, and retinal disease in overall importance. Given its tendency to affect people at younger age than other blinding conditions such as cataract and glaucoma, corneal scarring poses a huge burden both on the individuals and society. Furthermore, corneal scarring and fibrosis disproportionately affects people in poorer and remote areas, making it a significant ophthalmic public health problem. Traditional medical strategies, such as topical corticosteroids, are not effective in preventing fibrosis and scars. Corneal transplantation, the only effective sight-restoring treatment for corneal scars, is curbed by challenges including a severe shortage of tissue, graft rejection, secondary conditions, cultural barriers, the lack of well-trained surgeons, operating rooms, and well-equipped infrastructures. Thanks to tremendous research efforts, emerging therapeutic options including gene therapy, protein therapy, cell therapy and novel molecules are in development to prevent the progression of corneal scarring and compliment the surgical options currently available for treating established corneal scars in clinics. In this article, we summarise the most relevant preclinical and clinical studies on emerging therapies for corneal scarring in recent years, showing how these approaches may prevent scarring in its early development.
Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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ABOUT THE EXPERTS

Gink N Yang,Philippe Ke Roberts,Jesse Gardner-Russell,Manisha H Shah,Terry A Couper,Zhuoting Zhu,Graeme A Pollock,Gregory J Dusting,Mark Daniell

Gink N Yang

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia. Electronic address: gyang@cera.org.au.

Philippe Ke Roberts

Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University Vienna, 18-20 Währinger Gürtel, Vienna 1090, Austria.

Jesse Gardner-Russell

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia.

Manisha H Shah

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia.

Terry A Couper

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia; Lions Eye Donation Service, level 7, Smorgon Family Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia.

Zhuoting Zhu

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia.

Graeme A Pollock

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia; Lions Eye Donation Service, level 7, Smorgon Family Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia.

Gregory J Dusting

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia.

Mark Daniell

Centre for Eye Research Australia, level 7, Peter Howson Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia; Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne 3002, Australia; Lions Eye Donation Service, level 7, Smorgon Family Wing, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia.