Stem cell therapy holds promise for eye disorders

Cell-based therapies are providing new hope for the treatment of sight-threatening inflammation.

A review published in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research provides a comprehensive outline of current and future therapy for uveitis (also called intra-ocular inflammation).

Uveitis is a group of conditions that account for a significant proportion of visual disability, characterised by progressive visual loss caused by retinal inflammation and oedema.

The disorder is most common in people aged 2060, and the financial burden is as high as that of diabetic eye disease.

Current treatment for uveitis includes the use of antibiotics, immunosuppressants, and oral steroids, however, they result in side-effects and none have been specifically approved for the treatment of uveitis (they have all been prescribed off label).

Professor John Forrester from the Centre for Experimental Immunology, Lions Eye Institute, Perth says that there is a long list of side-effects caused by current treatment programs including renal failure, anaemia, and high blood pressure.

In about 50 per cent of patients with uveitis, no infectious cause can be found and an immune-mediated or autoimmune cause is suspected.

In these instances, pioneering cell-based therapies may provide the best hope for long-term treatment.

Cell-based therapies can be divided into two classes; the use of stem cells or genetically modified cells to restore the structure and function of damaged tissue, and the use of cells to control the damaging effects of inflammation.

Stem cells introduced into the eye have a better chance of survival due to the immune privileged state of the eye and thus the reduced risk of immune rejection.

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Stem cell therapy holds promise for eye disorders