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AIM: To investigate the effect of latanoprost eye drops on the conjunctival lymphatics. METHODS: Twenty-four healthy New Zealand White rabbits weighing 1.5 to 2.0 kg were randomly divided into three groups: latanoprost group (n=8) administered with latanoprost eye drops once a day for 2mo, carteolol group (n=8) administered with carteolol eye drops once a day for 2mo, and control group (n=8) without any treatment. The conjunctival tissues in the three groups were extracted to investigate the expression levels of 5’-nucleotidase (5’-Nase) by Western blot, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. RESULTS: The protein expression level of 5’-Nase was significantly higher in latanoprost group than carteolol group (F=231.175, P0.05). The mRNA expression level of 5’-Nase in the latanoprost group was also significantly higher than carteolol group (F=71.169 P

Background:Conventional delivery systems like solution and suspension are commonly used for the treatment of ocular diseases but have low corneal residence time and hence the duration of effect is ...

To evaluate the 24-h efficacy and safety of fixed combination carteolol/latanoprost (LCFC) and timolol/latanoprost (LTFC) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.Prospective, randomized, crossover study METHODS: Twenty-two patients pretreated with a prostaglandin analog at baseline were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to either LCFC or LTFC treatment. The patients received the assigned study drug in both eyes daily in the evening (20:00). Each treatment group crossed over after a 2-month treatment period. The 24-h curves of intraocular pressure (IOP), pulse rate, and blood pressure were evaluated. Safety was also assessed.The changes in mean daytime IOP from baseline at the end of the 2-month treatment period in the LCFC and LTFC groups were - 0.93 and - 1.15 mmHg, respectively. The changes in peak IOP in the 2 groups were - 0.91 and - 0.68 mmHg, respectively. The nighttime pulse rate in the LCFC group increased; that in the LTFC group was lower at all time points. The changes in pulse rate from baseline at 22:00, 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00 differed statistically between the 2 groups. No differences in changes from baseline in systolic and diastolic blood pressures were found between the groups.The 24-h IOP curve of patients in the LCFC group was similar to that of the LTFC group, but on the basis of the pulse rate findings, the effect of LCFC on the cardiovascular system over 24 h was less than that of LTFC.

Background/aimsTo assess the comparative efficacy of latanoprostene bunod (LBN), a novel prostaglandin analogue (PGA), to other medications for open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension on lowering intraocular pressure (IOP).MethodsA systematic literature review adapted from the Li et al (Ophthalmology, 2016) study was conducted. Medline, Embase and PubMed were searched for randomised controlled trials published between 1 January 2014 and 19 March 2020. Studies had to report IOP reduction after 3 months for at least two different treatments among placebo, PGAs (bimatoprost 0.01%, bimatoprost 0.03%, latanoprost, LBN, tafluprost, unoprostone) or apraclonidine, betaxolol, brimonidine, brinzolamide, carteolol, dorzolamide, levobunolol, timolol, travoprost. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed to provide the relative effect in terms of mean difference (95% credible interval) of IOP reduction and ranking probabilities. Surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) was generated.ResultsA total of 106 trials were included with data for 18 523 participants. LBN was significantly more effective than unoprostone (−3.45 (−4.77 to −2.12)). Although relative effect was not significative, compared with other PGAs, LBN numerically outperformed latanoprost (−0.70 (−1.83 to 0.43)) and tafluoprost (−0.41 (−1.87 to 1.07)), was similar to bimatoprost 0.01% (-0.02(−1.59 to 1.55)) and was slightly disadvantaged by bimatoprost 0.03% (−0.17 (−1.42 to 1.07)). LBN was significantly more efficient than the beta-blockers apraclonidine, betaxolol, brimonidine, brinzolamide, carteolol, dorzolamide and timolol. According to SUCRA, LBN was ranked second after bimatoprost 0.03%, followed by bimatoprost 0.01%.ConclusionLBN was significantly more effective than the PGA unoprostone and most of the beta-blockers. Compared with the most widely used PGAs, LBN numerically outperformed latanoprost and travoprost and was similar to bimatoprost 0.01%.

Ophthalmic carteolol is often used to treat glaucoma. Elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common among the super-elderly in Japan. Because these patients are exposed to polypharmacy, they are at a high-risk of adverse drug interactions. We herein report an elderly patient with CKD who suffered bradycardia shock after the combined use of carteolol eye drops and verapamil for glaucoma and paroxysmal AF. This case highlights the fact that eye drops have a similar systemic effect to oral drugs, and especially in elderly patients with polypharmacy, drug interactions can unwittingly lead to serious events.

Purpose To investigate the short-term intraocular pressure-lowering efficacy and safety of switching from a fixed combination of latanoprost/timolol to a fixed combination of latanoprost/carteolol. Patients and Methods The subjects were 30 eyes of 30 adult patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, normal-tension glaucoma, or ocular hypertension who were using a latanoprost-/timolol-fixed combination with insufficient intraocular pressure-lowering efficacy or adverse reactions. The subjects were switched from once-daily latanoprost/timolol to once-daily latanoprost/carteolol with no washout interval. Intraocular pressure, tear film break-up time, corneal epithelial defects, conjunctival hyperemia, blood pressure, and pulse rate were measured and compared before and 1 and 3 months after switching. Patients were monitored for adverse reactions at each visit, and dropouts were recorded. Results The mean intraocular pressure at 1 month (15.9±3.1 mmHg) and 3 months (16.3±3.8 mmHg) was not significantly different from that at baseline (16.1±3.1 mmHg). The tear film break-up time and corneal epithelial defects were significantly improved after switching (p

We aimed to investigate the toxicity of 6 fixed-combination drugs for glaucoma therapy using human corneal epithelial sheets (HCES). Experimental. We used 6 kinds of commercially available fixed-combination drugs: latanoprost/carteolol (LAT/CAR), latanoprost/timolol (LAT/TIM), tafluprost/timolol (TAF/TIM), travoprost/timolol (TRA/TIM), brinzolamide/timolol (BRZ/TIM), and dorzolamide/timolol (DRZ/TIM) including different preservatives. The cell viability and barrier function of the HCES after exposure to the eye drops for 10 or 30 minutes were assessed using the WST-1 assay and transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements, respectively. The HCES were also evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and transmission electron microscopy. The cell viability significantly decreased in the HCES treated with LAT/TIM or DRZ/TIM after 10 and 30 minutes and in those treated with BRZ/TIM after 30 minutes. The barrier function increased significantly in the HCES treated with LAT/CAR. Histologically, the HCES were damaged after treatment with LAT/TIM, BRZ/TIM, or DRZ/TIM for 30 minutes. Transmission electron microscopy indicated narrow intercellular spaces and multiple intercellular junctions in the HCES treated with LAT/CAR, TAF/TIM, or TRA/TIM. The HCES treated with DRZ/TIM, BRZ/TIM, or LAT/TIM contained cytoplasmic vacuoles and collapsed cellular structures. Glaucoma fixed-combination eye drops demonstrated a different toxic effect on the cell viability, barrier function, and morphologic changes of HCES.

The association between antiglaucoma medications and the development of ocular pseudopemphigoid (OPP) has been described; however, the independent risk of each medication has not been quantified.Case/non-case analyses were performed in the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) using data from 2010-2020 to examine the reporting odds ratio (ROR) signal for OPP for all classes of antiglaucoma medications under multiple conditions: (i) comparison to all other drugs in FAERs, (ii) comparison to other antiglaucoma medications, (iii) comparison to vehicle/hydrating eye drops with cases of OPP and (iv) comparison to vehicle/hydrating eyedrops with and without cases of OPP to control for topical irritant and preservative effects.A statistically significant ROR for OPP was found for aggregate antiglaucoma medications under the first condition but not the third or fourth (i.96.97 (95% CI 52.54-178.98). The largest signal for OPP when compared to other glaucoma drugs and eye drops was seen with unoprostone (ii.68.96 (95% CI 8.35-569.50, iii.39.85 (95% CI 4.14-383.33), iv.581.67 (95% CI 49.38-6851.57) followed by carteolol (ii.32.51(95% CI 9.02-117.67), iii.10.67 (95% CI 1.77-64.13), iv.77.84 (95% CI 12.95-467.78) and betaxolol (ii.23.38 (95% CI 7.28-74.46), iii.6.94 (95% CI 1.27-38.01), iv.50.67 (95% CI 9.26-277.25). A statistically significant ROR was noted only for the beta-blockers class aggregate under conditions ii and iv.Our findings support an association between OPP and antiglaucoma medications; under the most stringent control for topical irritant/preservative effect by of comparison to topical eye drops, unoprostone, carteolol, betaxolol and timolol all had a significant ROR for OPP.

Decreased vision and cystoid macular edema (CME) developed in phakic eyes of a patient who underwent laser iridotomy after changing the glaucoma eye drops from carteolol 2% long-acting ophthalmic solution to omidenepag isopropyl 0.002%. CME completely disappeared at approximately 2 months after discontinuation of omidenepag isopropyl in conjunction with the use of bromfenac sodium 0.1%.

(1) Background: Topical antiglaucoma medications may alter the microcirculation in the optic nerve head. We aimed to evaluate the changes in retinal vessel density (VD) on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in patients with newly diagnosed normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) treated with a topical beta-blocker. (2) Methods: This study included 80 patients diagnosed with NTG not using systemic medication, who received topical carteolol treatment between December 2019 and November 2020. We studied the changes in the OCTA VD/signal strength index (SSI) after the 6-month treatment period and determined the predictive factors affecting the changes in VD/SSI. (3) Results: After the 6-month treatment period, the peripapillary VD increased in 40 patients but decreased in the other 40 patients. The univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that old age and hypertension were significant factors associated with a VD/SSI decrease after carteolol treatment. Moreover, high baseline peripapillary, superficial, and deep macular VDs were significantly associated with the VD decrease after carteolol treatment. (4) Conclusions: Carteolol treatment could increase or decrease the VD in patients with NTG. The baseline VD, age, and hypertension could affect these VD changes. Patients with NTG and higher baseline peripapillary or macular VD, older age, and hypertension are more likely to have a decreased VD after carteolol treatment.

In this study, we made a comparative efficacy and safety assessment of two different fixed combinations of drugs, viz., tafluprost/timolol (TAF/TIM) and latanoprost/carteolol (LAT/CAR), by determining their effects on intraocular pressure (IOP) in ocular normotensive monkeys and examining their toxic effects on ocular surface using human corneal epithelial cells. TAF/TIM was found to be more effective in lowering IOP for a longer duration compared to LAT/CAR. We found that the difference in the intensity of IOP-lowering effect was because of the differences in the strength of timolol compared with that of carteolol as a beta-adrenergic antagonist and strength of tafluprost compared with that of latanoprost as a prostaglandin analogue. In addition, TAF/TIM showed much less cytotoxic effects compared to LAT/CAR on the human corneal epithelial cells. Our findings showed that TAF/TIM is better than LAT/CAR with regard to the IOP-lowering effect in monkeys and toxicity on ocular surface.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether carteolol eye drops, a β-adrenoceptor antagonist used as an intraocular hypotensive agent, has protective effects against the light-induced oxidative stress in retina. Dark-adapted pigmented rats were pre-treated with topical carteolol ophthalmic solution or saline and then exposed to visible light. The effects on electroretinogram (ERG), morphology, oxidative stress, and expression of mRNAs in the retinas were determined. The l-buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoximine (BSO)/glutamate-induced oxidative stress in 661 W cells, a murine photoreceptor cell line, was evaluated by cell death assays, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and activation of caspase. In vivo studies showed that exposure to light caused a decrease in the amplitudes of ERGs and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness and an increase of the 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)-positive cells in the ONL. These changes were significantly reduced by pre-treatment with carteolol. Carteolol also significantly up-regulated the mRNA levels of thioredoxin 1 and glutathione peroxidase 1 compared to saline-treated group. Moreover, carteolol and timolol, another β-adrenoceptor antagonist, significantly inhibited BSO/glutamate-induced cell death and reduced caspase-3/7 activity and ROS production in vitro. Therefore, carteolol could protect retina from light-induced damage with multiple effects such as enhancing the antioxidative potential and decreasing the intracellular ROS production. Keywords: Carteolol hydrochloride, Light-induced retinal damage, Oxidative stress, Antioxidative potential, Reactive oxygen species

In recent years, there have been reports of contact dermatitis due to the beta-blockers that are used in the treatment of glaucoma, such as timolol, levubonolol, carteolol, or betaxolol.A 37-year-old male patient, who was diagnosed with bilateral primary open-angle glaucoma two years ago, was in therapy with dorzolamide and a topical β-adrenergic blocker (timolol) in drops twice a day. Months later, he reported conjunctival hyperemia, stinging, and inflammation of both eyelids, followed by erythematous dermatitis, which improved upon treatment discontinuation. The patch test came back negative, but the conjunctival provocation test came back positive 48 hours later.Sensitization to the ophthalmic drops that are used to control glaucoma proved to be the mechanism that was causing the clinical picture of the patient. Performing a tolerance test for active anti-glaucoma agents may be helpful in improving tolerance to the medical treatment of some patients, thus, avoiding laser procedures and/or precipitated antiglaucomatous surgeries.Antecedentes: En los últimos años se han comunicado casos de dermatitis de contacto debido a betabloqueadores utilizados en el tratamiento del glaucoma como el timolol, levubonol, carteolol o betaxolol. Caso clínico: Hombre de 37 años de edad con diagnóstico dos años atrás de glaucoma primario de ángulo abierto bilateral, en terapia con dorzolamida y un agente betabloqueador adrenérgico tópico (timolol) en gotas, dos veces al día. Meses después consultó por hiperemia conjuntival, escozor e inflamación de párpados de ambos ojos seguida de dermatitis eritematosa, que mejoraban al suspender el tratamiento. La prueba del parche resultó negativa, pero la prueba de provocación conjuntival resultó positiva a las 48 horas. Conclusión: La sensibilización a las gotas oftálmicas que se emplean para controlar el glaucoma resultó ser el mecanismo responsable del cuadro clínico de la paciente. La prueba de tolerancia a los principios activos antiglaucomatosos puede resultar de ayuda para mejorar la tolerancia al tratamiento médico de algunos pacientes, con lo que podría evitarse procedimientos con láser o cirugías antiglaucomatosas precipitadas.

Precis In patients with normal-tension glaucoma, topical dorzolamide might enhance the vessel density (VD), topical carteolol decreased the VD in the inferior-temporal peripapillary retina, whereas topical brimonidine did not change the VD. Purpose Topical anti-glaucoma medications may improve ocular perfusion pressure or micro-circulation in the optic nerve head. The study evaluated the responses of the retinal vessel density (VD) to topical carteolol, brimonidine, and dorzolamide in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Patents and methods This is a retrospective non-randomized, comparative study. The study included 131 individuals (77 men, 54 women) diagnosed with NTG, without systemic medication usage, who visited the glaucoma clinic of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan between January 2019 and May 2020. If both eyes were diagnosed with NTG, only the right eye was included. Of these, there were 80 carteolol-treated eyes, 27 brimonidine-treated eyes, and 24 dorzolamide-treated eyes. We studied the response of OCTA parameters and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness to drugs, six months after treatment. Results In dorzolamide-treated eyes, increases in the peripapillary superficial retinal VD, especially in the superior-nasal area, were significant; however, no RNFL thickness changes were observed. In contrast, the superficial retinal VD decreased at the inferior-temporal peripapillary area, and RNFL thickness decreased in the inferior-nasal paripapillary area of the carteolol-treated eyes. Finally, in brimonidine-treated eyes, changes in either VD parameters or RNFL thickness were not significant. Conclusions Topical dorzolamide possibly enhanced the VD of the peripapillary retina in NTG eyes. On the contrary, topical carteolol possibly decreased VD in the inferior-temporal peripapillary retina. Finally, in cases treated with topical brimonidine, the peripapillary microcirculation remained unchanged. The study shows preliminary results, future large-scaled studies are warranted to confirm the findings.

Antecedentes: En los últimos años se han comunicado casos de dermatitis de contacto debido a betabloqueadores utilizados en el tratamiento del glaucoma como el timolol, levubonol, carteolol o betaxolol. Caso clínico: Hombre de 37 años de edad con diagnóstico dos años atrás de glaucoma primario de ángulo abierto bilateral, en terapia con dorzolamida y un agente betabloqueador adrenérgico tópico (timolol) en gotas, dos veces al día. Meses después consultó por hiperemia conjuntival, escozor e inflamación de párpados de ambos ojos seguida de dermatitis eritematosa, que mejoraban al suspender el tratamiento. La prueba del parche que resultó negativ, pero la prueba de provocación conjuntival resultó positiva a las 48 horas. Conclusión: La sensibilización a las gotas oftálmicas que se emplean para controlar el glaucoma resultó ser el mecanismo responsable del cuadro clínico de la paciente. La prueba de tolerancia a los principios activos antiglaucomatosos puede resultar de ayuda para mejorar la tolerancia al tratamiento médico de algunos pacientes, evitándose así procedimientos con láser o cirugías antiglaucomatosas precipitadas.

Sustainable methods for producing enantiopure drugs have been developed. Chlorohydrins as building blocks for several β-blockers have been synthesized in high enantiomeric purity by chemo-enzymatic methods. The yield of the chlorohydrins increased by the use of catalytic amount of base. The reason for this was found to be the reduced formation of the dimeric by-products compared to the use of higher concentration of the base. An overall reduction of reagents and reaction time was also obtained compared to our previously reported data of similar compounds. The enantiomers of the chlorohydrin building blocks were obtained by kinetic resolution of the racemate in transesterification reactions catalyzed by Candida antarctica Lipase B (CALB). Optical rotations confirmed the absolute configuration of the enantiopure drugs. The β-blocker (S)-practolol ((S)-N-(4-(2-hydroxy-3-(isopropylamino)propoxy)phenyl)acetamide) was synthesized with 96% enantiomeric excess (ee) from the chlorohydrin (R)-N-(4-(3-chloro-2 hydroxypropoxy)phenyl)acetamide, which was produced in 97% ee and with 27% yield. Racemic building block 1-((1H-indol-4-yl)oxy)-3-chloropropan-2-ol for the β-blocker pindolol was produced in 53% yield and (R)-1-((1H-indol-4-yl)oxy)-3-chloropropan-2-ol was produced in 92% ee. The chlorohydrin 7-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropoxy)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one, a building block for a derivative of carteolol was produced in 77% yield. (R)-7-(3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropoxy)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one was obtained in 96% ee. The S-enantiomer of this carteolol derivative was produced in 97% ee in 87% yield. Racemic building block 5-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropoxy)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one, building block for the drug carteolol, was also produced in 53% yield, with 96% ee of the R-chlorohydrin (R)-5-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropoxy)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one. (S)-Carteolol was produced in 96% ee with low yield, which easily can be improved.

International audience; Gene therapy is a new and promising tool to treat many severe diseases and the silencing of proteins is the safest and the most efficient tool to treat diseases because it does not induce changes in human genome and avoids a huge problem encompassing insertional mutagenesis. Using small RNAs to switch on/off target proteins is limited due to existence of some barriers for them in the human body (blood RNAses, serum albumins, cell walls, etc). For therapeutic applications they need the efficient and non-toxic carrier which will deliver them into cell cytoplasm. Within the huge range of carriers available, dendrimers can be underlined as new promising efficient carriers. This review summarizes several findings in phosphorus dendrimers based on in vitro and in vivo studies. As a result, we can conclude that advantages of phosphorus dendrimers are strong interaction with siRNA/DNA and formation of small and compact positively charged complexes of high and fast penetration into cells; efficient release of siRNA/pDNA in endosomes due to “proton sponge” effect; possibility of their modification including addition of fluorescent probes - in this case fluorescent dendrimer can be used both as a gene carrier and a tracer of delivery into cells. Additional benefit of using fluorescent phosphorus dendrimers is their ability to monitor the macrophage physiological status in vitro and in vivo.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate influence of betaxolol, brimonidine and carteolol in the progression of the visual field defects during time at patients with normotensive glaucoma (NTG). Materials and methods: This study included (60 eyes of) 30 patients with NTG. First group consisted of 20 eyes of 10 patients of the average age of 58.5 years, who were treated by betaxolol. Second group also consisted of 20 eyes of 10 patients of the average age of 62.6 years and they were treated by brimonidine. Third group had the same count of the eyes and patients, the average age was 61.1 years and these patients were treated by carteolol. Diagnose of NTG was based on the comprehensive ophthalmological examination including electroretinography and visual evoked potentials. Visual fields were examined by fast threshold glaucoma test using Medmont M700 device. We compared pattern defect (PD) in the visual field for 3 years. The including criteria were: similar visual field findings at the beginning of the study, stable eye therapy (treatment was not changed during the study), uncorrected or best corrected (up to +-3 D) visual acuity of 1,0 of ETDRS, intraocular pressure between 10-15 mm Hg, if present, then compensated cardiovascular disease, no other internal or neurological disorders. Results: We didn’t notice any statistically important difference of PD. The study revealed that brimonidin (p=0,99) and betaxolol (p = 0,81) had the best effect. Conclusion: Local therapy of betaxolol, brimonidine and carteolol has an essential clinical value in normotensive glaucoma. All the mentioned treatments had a protective effect on the visual field. However, local side-effects of brimonidinu are a question.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate seasonal fluctuations in intraocular pressure (IOP) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and its associated factors. SUBJECTS/METHODS: POAG patients treated only with glaucoma eye drops were enroled. Winter and summer IOPs were evaluated. The Seasonal fluctuation rate of IOP was defined as follows: (mean winter IOP—mean summer IOP)/mean IOP in all seasons. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore factors associated with the seasonal IOP fluctuation rate including: age, gender, family history of glaucoma, type of glaucoma, number of eye drops, type of eye drops, mean deviation (MD) value, MD slope, disc haemorrhage, central corneal thickness and spherical equivalent. RESULTS: Winter IOP was higher than summer IOP in 204 POAG eyes of 204 patients, including 162 eyes with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) (13.2 ± 2.7 vs. 12.0 ± 2.3 mmHg, P

Background Intraocular pressure (IOP) is an important physiological measure of the eye and is associated with some ocular disorders. We aimed to assess the influence of topical beta blocker-induced IOP reduction on lens-induced axial elongation in young guinea pigs. Methods The experimental study included 20 pigmented guinea pigs (age: 2–3 weeks). Myopia was induced in the right eyes for 5 weeks with − 10 diopter lenses. The right eyes additionally received either one drop of carteolol 2% (study group, n = 10) or one drop of artificial tears daily (control group, n = 10), while the contralateral eyes of all animals remained untouched. The outcome parameter was axial elongation during the follow-up period. The mean of all IOP measurements taken during the study was referred to as mean IOP. Results Greater axial elongation was associated with a shorter axial length at baseline (P P P = 0.59), the mean IOP during the study period (P = 0.12), the mean of all IOP measurements (P = 0.17), the difference between the IOP at study end and baseline IOP (P = 0.38), the difference between the mean IOP during the study period and the baseline IOP (P = 0.11), or the application of carteolol eye drops versus artificial tears eye drops (P = 0.07). The univariate analysis of the relationships between axial elongation and the IOP parameters yielded similar results. The inter-eye difference between the right eye and the left eye in axial elongation was significantly associated with the inter-eye difference in baseline axial length (P = 0.001; beta:-0.67) but not significantly correlated with the inter-eye difference in any of the IOP-related parameters (all P > 0.25). Conclusions In young guinea pigs with or without lens-induced axial elongation, neither the physiological IOP nor the IOP reduced by carteolol, a topical beta-blocker, was associated with the magnitude of axial elongation. These results suggest that IOP, regardless of whether it is influenced by carteolol, does not play a major role in axial elongation in young guinea pigs.

We prospectively investigated the efficacy and safety of switching from concomitant latanoprost and carteolol hydrochloride (CH) to a latanoprost/carteolol fixed combination (LCFC) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.A total of 43 patients (43 eyes) who were using latanoprost (once daily in the evening) and CH (once daily in the morning) concomitantly were switched to LCFC (once daily in the morning) with no washout interval. The primary efficacy endpoint was change in intraocular pressure (IOP) between baseline (before switching) and 1 and 3 months after switching. Systemic blood pressure and pulse rate, corneal epithelial defects, and tear film break-up time (TBUT) were also compared before and 1 and 3 months after switching. A questionnaire was administered 1 month after switching to investigate ocular comfort and treatment preferences. Adverse reactions and dropouts were recorded.There was no significant difference in IOP after switching to LCFC (15.0±2.6, 15.1±2.4, and 15.0±2.4 mm Hg at baseline and at 1 and 3 months, respectively). There was a significant decrease in corneal epithelial defects and significant increase in TBUT, without significant changes in systemic blood pressure or pulse rate. Three patients (7.3%) preferred concomitant latanoprost and CH; 33 (80.5%) preferred the LCFC. One patient each (9.3%) discontinued treatment because of foreign body sensation, blepharitis, increased IOP, or loss to follow-up.Switching from concomitant latanoprost and CH to LCFC led to similar IOP control with good safety and patient acceptance, at least in the short term.