Pharmacologic activity of mGLUR4 agonist in a model of primary open-angle glaucoma: A preclinical experimental study
Authors: Pobeda A. S. 
Published: February 2024

Background. Worldwide, more than 67 million people suffer from glaucoma. In Russia, this number exceeds 1.08 million people. Annually, the number of primary cases increases by 3–4%. The increasing prevalence of glaucoma intensifies the search for neuroprotectants that can reduce the loss of retinal ganglion cells, thereby impeding the progression of the disease. Objective. To study of the pharmacological activity of mGLUR4 agonist, ZC64-0001 substance, on a model of primary open-angle glaucoma. Methods. The conducted preclinical study involved 60 sexually mature male Wistar rats, weighing 180–220 g. The observation period was 73 days. The animals were divided into 6 groups with 10 animals in each. Group 1 included intact animals (without any manipulations); Group 2 included negative control animals with the water injected in the anterior chamber of the eye; in Group 3–6, primary open-angle glaucoma was modelled by injecting 1% hyaluronic acid solution into the anterior chamber of the eye once every 7 days from day 1 to day 62 of the study. Animals in Group 4 were treated intragastrically with H-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-1,6-dihydro-4-methoxy-1-(2-methylphenyl)-6-oxo-3-pyridazinecarboxamide under the laboratory code of ZC64-0001 at a dose of 10 mg/kg. Animals in Group 5 received Mexidol as a comparison drug intramuscularly at a dose of 25.7 mg/kg. Animals in Group 6 were treated with a Timolol instillation at a dose of 0.009 ml/kg. The studied compounds were administered from day 63 of the study once a day for 10 days. The evaluated indicators included the level of microcirculation in the retina, the amplitude of a-wave and b-wave of the electroretinogram, and the number of retinal ganglionic layer nuclei in the setting of the conducted treatment. Statistical processing of the data was performed using the Statistica 10.0 software (StatSoft, USA). Differences were determined at the significance level of p ˂ 0.05. Results. ZC64-0001 increased the level of microcirculation relative to the group with modelled glaucoma by 11.5%, with this indicator being statistically significantly different from that both in the group with modelled glaucoma and the intact group ( р < 0.05). In the group of animals receiving ZC64-0001, the amplitude of a-wave increased relative to the primary glaucoma group by 17.7%, with this index being statistically different from the groups of intact animals and negative control (р < 0.05). The b-wave amplitude increased by 34.4% relative to the group with modelled glaucoma, being statistically different from the intact group, negative control group, pathology modelled group, and comparison drug groups ( р < 0.05). Administration of ZC64-0001 increased the number of retinal ganglion cell nuclei relative to the group with modelled glaucoma by 41.0%, which had a statistically significant difference from all the studied groups ( р < 0.05). Conclusion. The ZC64-0001 compound demonstrated high neuroprotective properties in a model of primary open-angle glaucoma, leading to an improvement in retinal microcirculation, an increase in the wave amplitude according to the conducted electrophysiological study, and an increase in the number of ganglion cell nuclei.