#1

Presbyopia is an age-related vision disorder that is a global public health problem. Up to 85% of people aged ≥40 years develop presbyopia. In 2015, 1.8 billion people globally had presbyopia. Of those with significant near vision disabilities due to uncorrected presbyopia, 94% live in developing countries. Presbyopia is undercorrected in many countries, with reading glasses available for only 6–45% of patients living in developing countries. The high prevalence of uncorrected presbyopia in these parts of the world is due to the lack of adequate diagnosis and affordable treatment. The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is a non-enzymatic process known as the Maillard reaction. The accumulation of AGEs in the lens contributes to lens aging (leading to presbyopia and cataract formation). Non-enzymatic lens protein glycation induces the gradual accumulation of AGEs in aging lenses. AGE-reducing compounds may be effective at preventing and treating AGE-related processes. Fructosyl-amino acid oxidase (FAOD) is active on both fructosyl lysine and fructosyl valine. As the crosslinks encountered in presbyopia are mainly non-disulfide bridges, and based on the positive results of deglycating enzymes in cataracts (another disease caused by glycation of lens proteins), we studied the ex vivo effects of topical FAOD treatment on the power of human lenses as a new potential non-invasive treatment for presbyopia. This study demonstrated that topical FAOD treatment resulted in an increase in lens power, which is approximately equivalent to the correction obtained by most reading glasses. The best results were obtained for the newer lenses. Simultaneously, a decrease in lens opacity was observed, which improved lens quality. We also demonstrated that topical FAOD treatment results in a breakdown of AGEs, as evidenced by gel permeation chromatography and a marked reduction in autofluorescence. This study demonstrated the therapeutic potential of topical FAOD treatment in presbyopia.

8 Likes
#2

Sounds interesting. Is there any practical way to try this?

2 Likes
#3

Hmmm… topical eye drops made from this compound, perhaps. Seems potentially pretty easy, just contact your friends who work in biotech or academic labs… to buy it for you.

Identification

CAS Number: UENA-0246

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https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/sigma/f7296

Related Patents:

F7296-BULK________SIGMA____-2.pdf (35.6 KB)

3 Likes
#4

it doesn’t look like that would work because they had to do something to the lenses to get them to react with faod

1 Like
#5

The result was “ex-vivo”, that tells you they’re going to have to develop some way of getting this to work in live humans. That may be easy, or it may be hard, but working outside the body is merely proof of concept and a first step. Will it ever come to be used in humans and when, who knows.