Effects of Tafluprost on Ocular Blood Flow

Abstract

Increasing evidence indicates that improving ocular blood flow (OBF) can be a therapeutic direction for glaucoma therapy. Tafluprost, a prostaglandin analogue which lowers the intraocular pressure (IOP), has been shown to improve OBF in animals and humans. Several animal experiments showed that topical tafluprost significantly increased optic nerve head and retinal blood flow. Clinical trials also showed a beneficial effect of tafluprost on optic nerve head and macula blood flow, and a good ocular pulse amplitude-lowering effect. But, there are still a few conflicting results. Overall, tafluprost seems to have a beneficial effect on OBF, and the positive effect is probably independent from its IOP-lowering effect, which also is expected to improve OBF. Moreover, reducing the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration may be a possible mechanism of tafluprost’s effect on OBF. More well-designed studies are required to reveal the truth.