Therapeutic regulation of matrix metabolism to stabilise the biomechanical properties of the sclera in high myopia

基质代谢的治疗调节以稳定高度近视巩膜的生物力学特性

• 批准号: nhmrc : 145700
• 负责人: Prof Neville Mcbrien
• 金额: $ 15.14万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2001-01-01 至 2003-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/therapeutic-regulation-matrix-high-myopia/95097
• 关键词: Therapeutic; regulation; matrix; metabolism; stabilise

Myopia (short-sightedness) is due to the eye being too long. It is a common refractive disorder, affecting some 25-30% of people in developed countries, and results in blurred distance vision. Most myopia is easily correctable with spectacles or contact lenses. However a small, but significant, group of individuals have excessively long eyes and extreme amounts of myopia. These enlarged eyes impose abnormal stresses on the structures inside, particularly affecting the retina which is the light sensitive part of the eye. Any damage that occurs to the retina in these eyes is, at present, untreatable and irreversible and can result in blindness. In fact, myopia is the 2nd leading cause of blindness amongst adults of working age. In order for the eye to grow so large its white, outer coat (the sclera) must expand without allowing any leaks of the delicate structures and fluids inside. Although the sclera gets very thin as it expands, it has been shown that this process of expansion is not just due to stretching. Before any stretching can occur the biochemical structure of the sclera must change. A complex process, involving the synthesis of structural components and the activity of enzymes that breakdown these structural components, is at work in the sclera of eyes that are rapidly enlarging. The aim of this project is to intervene in the biochemical processes that have already been shown to be involved in excessive eye enlargement. We will use both therapeutic agents and innovative gene therapy techniques to reverse the biochemical changes that occur in the sclera of rapidly enlarging eyes. We predict that these therapies will result in a sclera that is more resistant to being stretched and an eye that has less pathology. The results from this study will provide us with potential therapeutic strategies for the treatment of eyes that are enlarging excessively, thereby giving us the opportunity of preventing blindness in a number of highly myopic individuals.

近视(近视)是由于眼睛太长。这是一种常见的屈光不正疾病，在发达国家约有25%-30%的人受到影响，并导致远距离视力模糊。大多数近视很容易用眼镜或隐形眼镜矫正。然而，有一小群人眼睛过长，近视程度极高，但意义重大。这些放大的眼睛对内部结构施加了异常的压力，特别是影响到视网膜，视网膜是眼睛的光敏感部分。目前，这些眼睛的视网膜受到的任何损害都是无法治疗和不可逆转的，可能会导致失明。事实上，近视是导致工作年龄成年人失明的第二大原因。为了让眼睛长得如此大，它的白色外层(巩膜)必须扩张，而不允许微妙的结构和内部液体泄漏。虽然巩膜在扩张时会变得很薄，但已经证明，这种扩张过程不仅仅是由于伸展。在发生任何伸展之前，巩膜的生化结构必须改变。一个复杂的过程，包括结构成分的合成和分解这些结构成分的酶的活性，正在迅速扩大的眼睛的巩膜中发挥作用。这个项目的目的是干预已经被证明与过度放大眼睛有关的生化过程。我们将使用治疗剂和创新的基因治疗技术来逆转快速放大眼睛的巩膜发生的生化变化。我们预测，这些疗法将导致巩膜更能抵抗拉伸，眼睛的病理程度更低。这项研究的结果将为我们治疗过度放大的眼睛提供潜在的治疗策略，从而使我们有机会在一些高度近视的人中预防失明。