Bimatoprost for glaucoma therapy: pharmacology, clinical efficacy and controversy

Abstract

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Lowering intraocular pressure pharmacologically remains the primary therapeutic approach. Glaucoma pharmacotherapy with prostaglandin analogs lowers intraocular pressure primarily by increasing aqueous humor outflow. One of these analogs, bimatoprost, is purported to be more effective than the others and possibly activates different receptors. Existing evidence suggests that, in humans, bimatoprost is equally or slightly more effective in lowering intraocular pressure compared with other prostaglandin analogs and acts through the same mechanism. There is a slightly greater incidence of side effects compared with latanoprost. Bimatoprost can be used in combination with other classes of glaucoma therapeutic agents and can be substituted for other prostaglandin analogs.

Keywords::

• bimatoprost
• glaucoma
• intraocular pressure
• prostaglandin
• uveoscleral outflow