Prozac can provide treatment for the main cause of blindness in people over 50

Dr.

Based on their findings, the researchers are urging clinical trials for AMD patients

Gelfand of the Center for Advanced Vision Sciences at the University of Virginia said: "These findings are an exciting example of the promise of drug repurposing, using existing drugs in new and unexpected ways

Fluoxetine and AMD

Researchers believe that fluoxetine fights AMD by combining with a special substance in the immune system called inflammasome

After conducting a large number of experimental studies, Gelfand and his team tested fluoxetine and eight other antidepressant drugs on laboratory mice to see what effect these drugs have on the AMD model

Encouraged by their findings, the researchers looked at the use of fluoxetine in patients over the age of 50 in two huge insurance databases

They pointed out that their method of combining laboratory research with big data analysis may promote the reuse of existing drugs for many diseases and speed up new treatments for patients

The researchers wrote: "Traditional drug development methods are expensive and time-consuming: On average, a new drug approved by the FDA takes 10-12 years and the development cost is 2.

Gelfand used a similar method earlier this year to determine that HIV drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) might also be useful for dry macular degeneration

Gelfand of the Department of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia said: "Although our approach to using real patient data has been very successful, we may just be beginning to scratch the skin when it comes to discovering new uses for old drugs

Research results published

The researchers published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Other members of the research team include Ivana Apicella, Shao-bin Wang, Siddharth Narendran, Hannah Leung, Felipe Pereira, Yosuke Nagasaka, Peirong Huang, Akhil Varshney, Kirstie L.

Gelfand and other researchers involved in this work were nominated as inventors of the patent application for macular degeneration filed by UVA

This research was supported by the Strategic Investment Fund of the University of Virginia; National Institutes of Health grants R01EY028027, R01EY031039, R01EY032512 and R35GM119751; BrightFocus Foundation; Owens Family Foundation; and UVA

Journal Reference :

1. Meenakshi Ambati, Ivana Apicella, Shao-bin Wang, Siddharth Narendran, Hannah Leung, Felipe Pereira, Yosuke Nagasaka, Peirong Huang, Akhil Varshney, Kirstie L.