Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University have found a pain medicine that appears to help preserve vision in a model of severe retinal degeneration.
The study examined an animal model where the pain drug pentazocine enabled the survival of cone cells in animals with severe, inherited retinal degeneration. Researchers believe the drug helps increase activity of the natural anti-oxidative protein Nrf2 and other mechanisms that help protect cells, and also helps decrease inflammation leading to reduced oxidative stress that can be damaging in the retina.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Source: Augusta University