Potential for serotonergic agents to treat elevated intraocular pressure and glaucoma: focus on 5-HT₂ receptor agonists

Abstract

Although several classes of drugs, including FP-receptor prostaglandin agonist analogs, are available to treat elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) associated with glaucoma, novel pharmaceuticals to treat this potentially blinding disease are still being sought. With recent demonstration of potent IOP-lowering activity of serotonin-2 receptor agonists in conscious ocular hypertensive Cynomolgus monkey eyes, the prospects of this unexampled class of compounds yielding new drugs for the treatment of elevated IOP look bright. This article reviews the ocular serotonergic literature pertaining to elevated IOP in patients with ocular hypertension and glaucoma, the data on ocular hypotensive serotonin-2 agonists, and discusses their potential mechanism(s) of action at the cellular and whole-animal level.

Keywords::

• 5-HT₂ receptors
• eye
• glaucoma
• intraocular pressure
• serotonin

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the many Alcon colleagues and academic collaborators, too numerous to mention, whose research efforts made the several cited publications and patents possible, and without whose research contributions and helpful comments this article would not have been possible.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Najam A Sharif and Jesse A May are employees of Alcon Research Ltd. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.