Progress in experimental research of retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited eye disease. The inheritance methods include autosomal dominant inheritance, autosomal recessive inheritance, and sex-linked recessive inheritance. Currently, there are more than 3,000 mutation sites, which makes clinical treatment of this disease difficult. Ophthalmologists are committed to exploring the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, and have conducted a large number of experimental studies, mainly including drug treatment, cell transplantation, gene therapy, etc. Drug therapy includes traditional Chinese medicine, antioxidants, anti-apoptotic agents, neurotrophic factors, etc. Compared with other treatment methods, it is non-invasive and convenient and cheap, but its mechanism of action needs further research. Cell transplantation is considered an effective method for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, but it may cause preretinal membrane and macular folds. Although gene therapy has certain limitations, with the development of gene editing technology and new gene delivery vectors, it will become one of the most promising treatments for retinitis pigmentosa in the future. This article reviews and prospects the recent experimental research on retinitis pigmentosa.

Keywords

• retinitis pigmentosa
• experimental study
• retinal transplantation
• gene therapy