Repurposing an Approved Diabetes Drug for Glaucoma

Inflammation of the nervous system tissue contributes to blinding loss of nerve cells in the eye and brain in glaucoma. In this project, we aim to repurpose an existing FDA-approved drug to modify this inflammatory response with the goal of identifying a potential new therapy to help preserve vision in patients with glaucoma.

In our first specific aim, we will assess the effect of GLP-1R agonist on neuroinflammation throughout the visual pathway by quantifying myeloid cell activity with intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma disease status in our unique large animal model. In our second aim, we will determine the effect of GLP-1R agonist on myeloid cell molecular profiles in the visual pathway using state-of-art single-cell transcriptomics approaches.

We will use a unique spontaneous model that more closely mirrors the pathology of glaucoma in humans than traditional animal models in order to interrogate the effect of GLP-1R agonist to modulate neuroinflammation in glaucoma. By employing innovative transcriptomic profiling approaches, our studies will further provide key insights into immune cell activity widely implicated in glaucoma pathology.

Upon completion of the project, our studies will provide proof of concept that an existing drug can be repurposed to target neuroinflammation, as a complement to conventional IOP lowering treatments. The success of this project will promote the effective translation of this innovative treatment strategy into clinical trials in human patients in order to prevent irreversible vision loss from glaucoma.