Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Irvine

UC Irvine Previously Published Works bannerUC Irvine

Prolonged prevention of retinal degeneration with retinylamine loaded nanoparticles.

Abstract

Retinal degeneration impairs the vision of millions in all age groups worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that the etiology of many retinal degenerative diseases is associated with impairment in biochemical reactions involved in the visual cycle, a metabolic pathway responsible for regeneration of the visual chromophore (11-cis-retinal). Inefficient clearance of toxic retinoid metabolites, especially all-trans-retinal, is considered responsible for photoreceptor cytotoxicity. Primary amines, including retinylamine, are effective in lowing the concentration of all-trans-retinal within the retina and thus prevent retina degeneration in mouse models of human retinopathies. Here we achieved prolonged prevention of retinal degeneration by controlled delivery of retinylamine to the eye from polylactic acid nanoparticles in Abca4(-/-)Rdh8(-/-) (DKO) mice, an animal model of Stargardt disease/age-related macular degeneration. Subcutaneous administration of the nanoparticles containing retinylamine provided a constant supply of the drug to the eye for about a week and resulted in effective prolonged prevention of light-induced retinal degeneration in DKO mice. Retinylamine nanoparticles hold promise for prolonged prophylactic treatment of human retinal degenerative diseases, including Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View