Progesterone as a potential neuroprotective treatment in the retina

Diseases and injuries that affect the eye and cause vision loss are a serious problem worldwide, both in terms of economic impact and patient quality of life. Few effective treatments currently exist to address this significant unmet need. The authors review research on progesterone treatment in traumatic brain injury and stroke showing that this pleiotropic hormone is a successful neuroprotective treatment in a variety of animal models. The authors also describe the ocular disorders that they think are the best candidates for progesterone treatment, other treatments currently available, research relevant to bringing progesterone treatment to the eye, including evidence of progesterone and its receptors in the eye, the overlap between mechanisms involved in retinal diseases and mechanisms modulated by progesterone and research on progesterone in the eye so far. Progesterone's pleiotropic properties and its success in pre-clinical models of traumatic brain injury and stroke make it an attractive candidate as a therapy for some disorders affecting the retina. This review discusses progesterone as a potential neuroprotective treatment in the retina and optic nerve.