DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for glaucoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 45-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleGlaucoma maps to a 45-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
approvedEpinephrineApproved drug
Structures already discussed alongside glaucoma in the retrieved literature, rendered from public PubChem SMILES. Which drugs appear here reflects the evidence found, not a ranked prediction.
Molecular view
Structure of human I113T SOD1 — Epinephrine has a real, experimentally solved structure in complex with this target (PDB 4A7U, 0.98 Å). This is the drug's own deposited structure, not a prediction, and confirms it is a structurally characterised molecule rather than an untested guess.
Loading structure…
helix sheet aledrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 4A7U · 0.98 Å · ligand Epinephrine (ALE). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Glaucoma treatment aims to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) by 20% to 50% from baseline, depending on existing damage, progression rate, baseline IOP, and patient age. Topical monotherapy can lower IOP by 15% to 30%. Filtration surgery success rates, improved by intraoperative antimetabolites, range from 50% to 90% depending on the study. In the Canadian Glaucoma Study, 258 patients with early to moderate open-angle glaucoma were followed for a median of 5.3 years under a standardised IOP treatment protocol. The cumulative visual field progression rate was 11.3% at 2 years, 21.5% at 4 years, 33.1% at 6 years, and 43.5% at 8 years, despite treatment. A review of surgical treatment for far-advanced glaucoma in the only seeing eye found insufficient published data to draw firm conclusions, and noted that common success criteria are not yet established for daily clinical practice.
In the DBA/2J mouse model of pigmentary glaucoma, behavioural assays showed that visual deficits begin around 7 months of age, vary within each age group, and increase in prevalence with age. Importantly, poor visual performance did not correlate with IOP elevation, but did correlate with significant loss of retinal ganglion cells. This suggests that IOP alone is not a reliable surrogate for functional vision loss in this model.
A 2018 Russian review notes that lifelong glaucoma therapy faces a gradual decrease in drug effectiveness, falling tolerance, and reduced response to habitual drugs, sometimes requiring increasing doses. A 2025 review of emerging therapies describes new topical formulations, sustained-release implants, and gene therapy as being in development, but states that further investigation is needed to determine long-term clinical implications. No data from controlled human trials of these newer approaches are provided.
What is still missing are large, long-term randomised trials that directly compare emerging drug delivery methods and gene therapies against current standard care, with functional vision endpoints rather than IOP alone. Patient stratification by disease stage and progression rate remains poorly defined in most studies, and adherence monitoring is rarely objective. Funding for such trials, especially for the only-seeing-eye population, is lacking.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Deutsches Ärzteblatt international · 2009 · 44 citations · open access
The Medical and Surgical Treatment of Glaucoma
AbstractBACKGROUND: Ongoing demographic changes in Europe are heightening the importance of adequate treatment for glaucoma, a disorder that is markedly more common in the elderly. METHOD: A selective search for relevant literature, including Cochrane Reviews and the guidelines of the European Glaucoma Society, regarding the topical and surgical treatment of glaucoma. RESULTS: It is recommended that the intraocular pressure (IOP) should be lowered by 20% to 50% from its baseline value, depending on the extent of already existing damage, the rate of progression, the baseline IOP, and the age of the patient. Topical monotherapy can lower the IOP by 15% to 30%. The success rate of filtration surgery has risen because of the intraoperative application of topical antimetabolites and currently ranges from 50% to 90%, depending on the study. CONCLUSIONS: The goal of glaucoma treatment is to protect the patient from blindness and visual impairment while keeping the treatment-related decline in quality of life to a minimum. Any type of glaucoma treatment, be it medical or surgical, must further this aim in consideration of the situation of the individual patient.
Current Eye Research · 2011 · 20 citations · open access
Detection of Visual Deficits in Aging DBA/2J Mice by Two Behavioral Assays
AbstractPURPOSE: The DBA/2J mice have been used as an animal model for human pigmentary glaucoma. However, these mice develop various degrees of disease symptoms at different ages, making it difficult to detect pathological changes of retinal degeneration at glaucoma onset. The purpose of this study is to develop a non-invasive assay to identify individual mice that develop visual deficits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We apply two behavioral tests, a swimming test of visual discrimination and a test of optomotor response, to identify glaucomatous DBA/2J mice. We then examine whether the elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP), the common risk factor for glaucoma, affects visual performances of the DBA/2J mice. We further compare the retinal ganglion cell death, one of the signature glaucoma symptoms, in mice with normal behavior with those with poor visual performances. RESULTS: Our data demonstrate that (1) the onset of visual deficits in DBA/2J mice is around 7 months of age; (2) within each age group, there are various degrees of visual deficits; and (3) the percentage of mice exhibiting visual deficits increases with age and their visual capacities decrease gradually. Furthermore, the poor visual performances of DBA/2J mice do not correlate with the elevation of IOP. Importantly, compared to mice with normal visual performances in the same age group, mice with poor visual performances exhibit significant loss of retinal ganglion cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies establish a reliable behavioral assay to identify glaucomatous DBA/2J mice, thus making it possible to examine subtle pathological changes and molecular mechanisms in glaucoma pathogenesis with a relatively small number of samples.
A New Stabilized Form of Epinephrine for the Treatment of Open-Angle Glaucoma
AbstractA new stabilized form of epinephrine with a pH of 7.4 has been developed * specifically for use in the management of open-angle glaucoma. It is a complex formula as a result of a reaction between epinephrine and boric acid. Its advantages over the forms of epinephrine now in use are that it is nonirritating to ocular tissues and is stable at room temperatures even after the bottle has been opened for more than a month. At least theoretically it has a greater physiologic activity than other forms of epinephrine, since it should penetrate the cornea more easily than the solutions of low pH now available. Also, the lack of irritation means less dilution of the drug by tears. A preliminary clinical trial on a small number of patients with open-angle glaucoma has yielded encouraging results. Although there were several earlier reports of the use of epinephrine in the treatment of
Additive and combined glaucoma therapy: principles and practice
AbstractThe review summarizes the results of modern clinical practice of glaucoma treatment, in which diverse combinations of drugs are used. The search for new combinations of treatment of glaucoma patients is directed to the individual characteristics of the disease, but at the same time it should follow a uniform pattern of prescription sequence. Lifelong monitoring of glaucoma patients and prescriptions of medication are faced with a gradual decrease in drug effectiveness. Attention should be given to a falling tolerance to drugs, or reduced reaction to habitual administration of drugs and addiction, which requires increasing doses to achieve the expected effect of the drug. Clinical and organizational aspects of the situation are considered. For citation: Kuroyedov A.V., Nagornova Z.M., Tibieva Z.U., Krinitsyna E.A., Sergeeva V.M. Additive and combined glaucoma therapy: principles and practice. Russian ophthalmological journal. 2018; 11 (2): 71-81. doi: 10.21516/2072-0076-2018-11-2-71-81 (In Russian).
Canadian Glaucoma Study: 1. Study design, baseline characteristics, and preliminary analyses.
AbstractBACKGROUND: The Canadian Glaucoma Study is a multicentered, prospective longitudinal study designed to study a variety of systemic risk factors for the progression of open-angle glaucoma under a standardised interventional protocol for intraocular pressure (IOP) control. METHODS: Newly or previously diagnosed patients with early to moderate open-angle glaucoma were recruited consecutively from 5 hospital-based university departments. Baseline parameters, including an assessment of peripheral vasospasm, haematologic, coagulation, and immunopathologic variables were obtained. Newly diagnosed patients were targeted for a >or=30% reduction in IOP, whereas previously diagnosed patients entered the study at a physician-defined target IOP. After baseline examinations, patients were followed at 4-month intervals with standard automated perimetry, short-wavelength automated perimetry, and confocal scanning laser tomography, and at 28-32-month intervals with stereo disc photography. If the patient had visual field progression with standard automated perimetry, a further >or=20% reduction in IOP was mandated. A standardized IOP treatment protocol, ranging from topical monotherapy to filtration surgery, was implemented. RESULTS: A total of 258 patients (131 [corrected] men and 127 [corrected] women, median age 65.0 years) were enrolled. Baseline median values for visual acuity, visual field mean deviation, untreated IOP, and refractive error were 0.10 logMAR, -4.04 dB, 25.0 mm Hg, and 0.00 D, respectively. Approximately 30% of the patients were hypertensive, 16% had cardiovascular disease, 9% thyroid disease, 9% diabetes, 14% migraine, and 19% were smokers. The median follow-up was 5.3 years, with 148 (57.0%) and 51 (19.8%) patients completing >or=5 and >or=7 years follow-up, respectively. The cumulative visual field progression rate at 2, 4, 6, and 8 years was 11.3%, 21.5%, 33.1%, and 43.5%, respectively. INTERPRETATION: We describe the study design and baseline patient characteristics of the Canadian Glaucoma Study and present some preliminary results. This long and close follow-up of a large group of patients will reveal the importance of several systemic factors for the progression of glaucoma.
AbstractThe past 10 years have seen dramatic changes in the pharmacologic treatment of glaucoma. The treatment of glaucoma has changed from surgical to primarily medical. These treatments have improved the effectiveness and safety of lowering the intraocular pressure to prevent progressive vision loss and blindness, but no cure for glaucoma or reversal of blindness is available yet. Research is progressing and can hopefully achieve these final goals sometime in the future.
National Journal glaucoma · 2023 · 0 citations · open access
Risks in the surgical treatment of far-advanced glaucoma in the only seeing eye
AbstractThis review summarizes the results of surgical treatment of faradvanced stage glaucoma in the only seeing eye. A literature search performed in the PubMed search engine and aimed at finding publications reporting the clinical outcomes of treatment in patients with glaucoma in the only seeing eye did yield sufficient data related to the topic. A comprehensive analysis of the available data was performed with an emphasis on the choice of treatment tactics and postoperative results at various times following a surgery. Several studies allowed to perform a comparison of the clinical advantages and costeffectiveness of medical treatment versus surgery for advanced glaucoma, as well as to assess potential risks and adverse outcomes such as glaucoma progression, postoperative scarring, hypotension and other complications. The results presented in this review suggest that common success criteria can provide uniformity in academic studies, but in daily clinical practice each glaucoma specialist must make a patientspecific decision in favor of either of these methods of treatment in order to guarantee an optimal result, both for the doctor and, of course, for the patient.
Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs · 2025 · 0 citations · open access
Medical glaucoma management: what’s new on the horizon?
AbstractINTRODUCTION: Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy with medical therapies historically focusing on topical administration of drops. Thus, large barriers to effective treatment exist, including poor medication adherence and intolerance to local adverse effects. Emerging therapies are targeted toward circumventing some of these challenges and are now focused on newer topical formulations, sustained-release implants, and more recently gene therapy. AREAS COVERED: This review is intended to cover the existing and emerging medical therapies for glaucoma. It includes literature from searches from PubMed, published abstracts as well as press releases and company communications. Included articles were published from 1954 to 2025. EXPERT OPINION: Several new medical therapies for glaucoma are currently in development. Emerging pharmacological and drug delivery methods have the potential to provide longer-lasting therapeutic and potentially preventative treatments for individuals with glaucoma. Further investigation is needed to determine the long-term clinical implications of such treatments for glaucoma.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
