Kobra B. Juybari, Azam Hosseinzadeh, Habib Ghaznavi, Mahboobeh Kamali, Ahad Sedaghat, Saeed Mehrzadi and Masood Naseripour* Pages 3057 - 3073 ( 17 )
Optic neuropathies refer to the dysfunction or degeneration of optic nerve fibers caused by any reasons including ischemia, inflammation, trauma, tumor, mitochondrial dysfunction, toxins, nutritional deficiency, inheritance, etc. Post-mitotic CNS neurons, including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) intrinsically have a limited capacity for axon growth after either trauma or disease, leading to irreversible vision loss. In recent years, an increasing number of laboratory evidence has evaluated optic nerve injuries, focusing on molecular signaling pathways involved in RGC death. Trophic factor deprivation (TFD), inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, ischemia, hypoxia, etc. have been recognized as important molecular mechanisms leading to RGC apoptosis. Understanding these obstacles provides a better view to find out new strategies against retinal cell damage. Melatonin, as a wide-spectrum antioxidant and powerful freeradical scavenger, has the ability to protect RGCs or other cells against a variety of deleterious conditions such as oxidative/nitrosative stress, hypoxia/ischemia, inflammatory processes, and apoptosis. In this review, we primarily highlight the molecular regenerative and degenerative mechanisms involved in RGC survival/death and then summarize the possible protective effects of melatonin in the process of RGC death in some ocular diseases including optic neuropathies. Based on the information provided in this review, melatonin may act as a promising agent to reduce RGC death in various retinal pathologic conditions.
Retinal ganglion cell survival/death, inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, melatonin, excitotoxic damage.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Razi Drug Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Department of Pharmacology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Eye Research Center, Rassoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Razi Drug Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Eye Research Center, Rassoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran