Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is characterized by progressive deterioration of the macula, an area located in the center of the retina and toward the back of the eye. This degeneration leads to impairment or loss of central vision. Around one in 7 people over the age of 50 are affected by AMD. The underlying causes of the disease remain poorly understood, despite a contribution from genetic and environmental factors (age, family history, smoking in particular).
The most common form of age-related macular degeneration is Dry AMDwhich leads to progressive vision loss and which is the subject of this study. This form of AMD represents 90% of all cases of AMD, and causes relatively mild visual impairment; however, approximately 30% of patients develop severe vision loss associated with wet AMD within 10 years.
The other form, the Wet AMD is characterized by the development of fragile blood vessels as the body attempts to repair the damaged macula.
The only approved treatments are injectable medicationswhich can lead to complications linked to their mode of intravitreal injection. Furthermore, their effectiveness in restoring vision remains limited. This innovative candidate in the form of eye drops therefore represents immense hope for the treatment of dry AMD.
Soon an eye drop for dry AMD
The study focuses on the Toll-like receptor (TLR) inflammatory signaling pathway, which is known to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of AMD. By extracting peptide sequences from tens of thousands of proteins with structures similar to natural TLR proteins, the researchers were able to build a library of more than 190,000 peptide drug candidates. Screening this large library allowed them to identify several candidate peptides capable of inhibiting the interactions between these proteins. Then the team validated these peptides on cell lines (in vitro) and on animal models (in vivo):
- the therapeutic effectiveness of peptides has notably been validated in vivo in the form of ophthalmic drops ; mouse models of dry AMD confirm a protective effect on retinal cells and significantly reduced retinal degeneration;
- Compared to current injection treatments, this peptide-based eye drop seems to be able to completely replace these injectable therapies.
Restore quality of life: Eye drops are the preferred method of drug delivery by patients for ophthalmic diseases and disorders, however the development of formulations targeting the retina, located in the posterior segment of the eye, has remained a challenge.
Preclinical experiments confirm that this peptide candidate in eye drop form appears to meet the challenge.
