Advances in basic researches of pharmacological approachs of retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a hereditary ocular disease that can cause blindness.There is no effective treatment currently.Although new technologies, such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy, photogenetics and retinal prostheses have flourished in recent years, they have not been widely applied in clinical practice in the near future.Classical pharmacological treatment is the only choice for now.Although the mechanism of RP is not completely clear, researches have found that, photoreceptors apoptosis is the final common pathway in RP.Excessive inflammatory response, oxidative stress can influence RP process and cause retina degradation, and lack of neurotrophic factors and phototransduction associated molecules may also lead to RP exacerbation.According to the common pathological pathways of RP, pharmacological treatment can play its role widely and universally in different genotypes of RP on the above stages.This review provides an overview of the current basic researches of drug treatment from different respects, including anti-photoreceptors apoptosis, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and neuro protection.