WEDNESDAY, Dec. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with glaucoma, prostaglandin analogs seem to affect circadian intraocular pressure (IOP)-related patterns, according to a study published in the December issue of Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology.
Kaweh Mansouri, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of California in San Diego, and colleagues used a contact lens sensor to examine the circadian IOP-related effects of ocular hypertensive medications in a prospective randomized trial. Twenty-three patients with primary open-angle glaucoma underwent ambulatory recording of IOP-related patterns for 24 hours in one eye during three monthly sessions. Patients were untreated in session one (S1), randomized to glaucoma drops for S2, and had a prostaglandin analog add-on for S3.
The researchers found that at S1 and S2, positive linear slopes were seen from wake/sitting to sleep/supine, while negative slopes were seen at S3 (S1 to S2, P= 0.01; S1 to S3, P = 0.02). Slopes changed significantly with the introduction of drops in the prostaglandin group (S1 to S2, P < 0.024), whereas they did not change in the mixed group combining the three other classes (S1 to S2, P = 0.060). There were no statistically significant differences between sessions (S1 to S2, P = 0.541; S1 to S3, P = 0.083; S2 to S3, P = 0.092).
"Prostaglandin analogs, but not other medications, seem to flatten the IOP-related increase at transition of the wake/sitting to the sleep/supine period, but do not seem to have an effect on acrophase and amplitude," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries.