Song Wei, Huang Ping, Zhang Chun
Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015 Mar 11;9:1469-79. doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S80594. eCollection 2015.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause for blindness worldwide. It is mainly caused by glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) characterized by retinal ganglion cell loss, which leads to visual field defect and blindness. Up to now, the main purpose of antiglaucomatous therapies has been to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) through surgeries and medications. However, it has been found that progressive GON is still present in some patients with effective IOP decrease. Therefore, risk factors other than IOP elevation, like neurotrophin deprivation and excitotoxicity, contribute to progressive GON. Novel approaches of neuroprotection may be more effective for preserving the function of the optic nerve.
青光眼是全球第二大致盲原因。它主要由以视网膜神经节细胞丢失为特征的青光眼性视神经病变（GON）引起，这会导致视野缺损和失明。到目前为止，抗青光眼治疗的主要目的一直是通过手术和药物降低眼压（IOP）。然而，已经发现，在一些眼压有效降低的患者中仍存在进行性GON。因此，除了眼压升高之外的危险因素，如神经营养因子缺乏和兴奋性毒性，也会导致进行性GON。神经保护的新方法可能对视神经功能的保护更有效。
