Rusciano, D.; Russo, C. The Therapeutic Trip of Melatonin Eye Drops: From the Ocular Surface to the Retina. Pharmaceuticals2024, 17, 441.
Rusciano, D.; Russo, C. The Therapeutic Trip of Melatonin Eye Drops: From the Ocular Surface to the Retina. Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17, 441.
Rusciano, D.; Russo, C. The Therapeutic Trip of Melatonin Eye Drops: From the Ocular Surface to the Retina. Pharmaceuticals2024, 17, 441.
Rusciano, D.; Russo, C. The Therapeutic Trip of Melatonin Eye Drops: From the Ocular Surface to the Retina. Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17, 441.
Abstract
Melatonin is a ubiquitous molecule found in living organisms, ranging from bacteria to plants and mammals. It possesses various properties, partly due to its robust antioxidant nature and partly owed to its specific interaction with melatonin receptors present in almost all tissues. Melatonin regulates different physiological functions and contributes to the homeostasis of the entire organism. In the human eye, a small amount of melatonin is also present, produced by cells in the anterior segment and the posterior pole, including the retina. In the eye, melatonin may provide antioxidant protection along with regulating physiological functions of ocular tissues, including intraocular pressure (IOP). Therefore, it is conceivable that the exogenous administration of sufficiently high amounts of melatonin to the eye could be beneficial in several instances: for the treatment of eye pathologies like glaucoma, due to the IOP-lowering and neuroprotection effects of melatonin; for the prevention of other dysfunctions, such as dry eye and refractive defects (cataract and myopia) mainly due to its antioxidant properties; for diabetic retinopathy due to its metabolic influence and neuroprotective effects; for macular degeneration due to the antioxidant and neuroprotective properties; and for uveitis, mostly owing to anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. This paper reviews the scientific evidence supporting the use of melatonin in different ocular districts and provides data suggesting that the topical administration of melatonin as eye drops is a real possibility. This way, its distribution and concentration in different ocular tissues may support its pleiotropic therapeutic effects.
Keywords
melatonin; drug delivery; eye diseases
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Ophthalmology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
