The natural protein neuroserpine (neuroserpin) prevents blindness by protecting the optic nerve in glaucoma.
This is reported by researchers from the University of Macquarie in Australia.
Opening can lead to a new way of treating glaucoma - the leading cause of vision loss.
The concept of "glaucoma" unites a group of diseases characterized by optic nerve damage.
The optic nerve is a "wiring" connecting the retina of the eye with the brain. With glaucoma, increased intraocular pressure leads to a disruption in nutrition and the death of optic nerve fibers.
Australian scientists have discovered that the protein neuroserpine plays a key role in maintaining retinal health. Glaucoma is accompanied by inactivation of this protein, as a result of which atrophic processes are accelerated.
Head of the research Vivek Gupta (Vivek Gupta) announced his discovery in the journal Scientific Reports.
Neurospine and glaucoma.
The neuroserpine protein is well known in the scientific world as a potent inhibitor of plasmin, an enzyme that causes damage to nerve cells. Dr. Gupta and his colleagues made a logical assumption about the role of neuroserpine and plasmin in the mechanism of glaucoma lesion of the optic nerve and retina.
Analyzes of cellular retinal preparations of patients with glaucoma and laboratory animals have confirmed: as a result of oxidative stress, neuroserpine is inactivated, which leads to accelerated die-off of visual structures.
Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protective molecules that compensate for oxidative damage to cells and tissues. Under these conditions, neuroserpine loses its biological activity and stops interfering with the destructive effects of plasmin.
"Over a long period of time, active enzymes gradually" digest "the nerve tissue, causing a persistent decline in vision and ultimately blindness," - explained the essence of the discovery of Dr. Gupta.
A new method of treating glaucoma.
American experts have already described the results of their foreign colleagues as a "breakthrough", talking about the emergence of a fundamentally new method for treating glaucoma. Currently, glaucoma can not be cured, and eye protection products with this insidious disease do not always cope with their task.
It is no coincidence that throughout the world, including the United States and other developed countries, glaucoma remains the cause of blindness number 1.
Modern methods can only slow the progression of the disease, if it is detected early enough.
"Ophthalmologists and researchers often wondered what damage the optic nerve, how the destructive processes occur, the results of which we see in clinical practice?
The results of the study help to understand the mechanism of the disease and answer a key question that has escaped scientists for decades, "said Dr. Mehdi Mirzaei, co-author of the project.
In the future, Dr. Gupta's team plans to explore the potential of known antioxidants in the treatment of glaucoma. If some of them are able to activate neuroserpine, this will significantly expand the arsenal of modern ophthalmology.
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