Rho Kinase Inhibitors and their Role in Corneal Endothelial Dysfunction

Abstract

The corneal endothelium is its innermost layer and, despite being a monolayer of cells, is able to preserve tissue transparency with two fundamental functions: barrier and endothelial sodium-potassium (Na-K) pump. Endothelial cells have very little regenerative capacity, so any endothelial injury is compensated by the expansion and migration of adjacent residual cells. Corneal endothelial dysfunction is characterized by corneal edema that can lead to corneal tissue transplantation. New pharmacologic therapies with Rho kinase inhibitors and tissue engineering-based therapies have recently been proposed. An automated search on the main advances in these therapies was performed using the Infomed platform, specifically the Virtual Health Library. The information was summarized in the final report. We conclude that there is significant progress in the understanding of pathogenesis, and in the development of new treatments.