Research Projects

Glaucoma is a complex pathological condition characterized by increased resistance to aqueous humor drainage, leading to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration. It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally and in India. Current treatment strategies include lifelong administration of eye drops containing prostaglandins, β-blockers, or surgical methods like trabeculectomy. However, these methods do not improve the condition of RGC degeneration. The chronic nature of glaucoma demands frequent drug administrations, leading to poor patient compliance and treatment failure. sustained-release ocular implants or microparticles have been explored to prolong drug release in ocular tissues, but these require invasive surgical procedures or injections that can lead to severe ocular complications. A non-invasive (topical) route of administration holds an advantage over other routes. The complex anatomical and physiological barriers of the eye cause hindrance to drug permeation and retention, resulting in low bioavailability and sub-therapeutic levels of topically administered drugs. To develop a non-invasive sustained release dual drug delivery system, a multi-stimuli responsive, sustained release sol-gel based system is proposed. The system, in the liquid state at 25ᵒC, can transform into a gel upon topical eye drop administration. If successful, this system can be used as a platform technology for the topical administration of multiple therapeutic agents in the treatment of various ocular diseases, and the proposed combinatorial therapy can be translated to the clinic.