Effect of vitamin c on intraocular pressure : an experimental study in rabbits

Abstract EN

-d: Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, after cataract.

Growing evidence suggested that the oxidative damage might be a relevant target for both glaucoma prevention and therapy.

Objective: The present study was undertaken to clarify the Intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering effect of vitamine C topical application.

Materials and methods: A total of 20 male of White New Zealand Rabbits were enrolled in the study.

Ocular hypertension was induced (by hyroxymethyl cellulose) in the right eye of all rabbits and the animals randomized into four groups, five rabbits each.

The animals then treated with eye drop of D.W (Group 1), timolol 0.5% (Group 2), vitamin C 0.5% (Group 3) and a combination of timolol 0.5% and vitamin C 0.5% (Group 4) three times daily for 10 days.

IOP was measured before and after drug treatment.

Results: Compared to group 1, Timolol 0.5% (15.66 ± 0.31 vs.

25.2 ± 0.29 mmHg,) and vitamin C 0.5% (17.57 ± 0.42 vs.

25.2 ± 0.29 mmHg) caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in IOP.

Further, a combination of Timolol 0.5% and vitamin C 0.5% produced highly significant (P < 0.01) fall in IOP.

Conclusion: We can concluded that vitamin C has a significant IOP lowering effect, possibly due to antioxidant properties