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People suffering from glaucoma now have a new hope; a compound developed by researchers can help prevent vision loss in patients. The newly developed compound is said to prevent nerve damage leading to vision loss in glaucoma patients.

When optic nerve, the nerve that transmits images to brain, in eye is damaged it results in a condition called glaucoma. Damage to optic nerve is caused by intraocular pressure and if the pressure persists for a long time it might result in permanent loss of vision. The condition, which is believed to be inherited, if not treated appropriately might cause complete blindness.

As of now, treatment meant for glaucoma are drugs and surgery to reduce pressure in the eyes, however, even after timely intervention some people tend to loss their eye sight on the long run. In an effort to find a solution for this debilitating eye problem, researchers from Kyoto University in Japan developed a compound to prevent the nerve damage that leads to loss of vision.

"Our newly developed small compounds prevented the progression of glaucoma in three different mouse models," said Hanako Ikeda of Kyoto University in Japan. "[New Compound named as KUSs (Kyoto University Substances)] might slow down disease progression and prolong normal or near-normal vision [in people with glaucoma]; ideally, KUSs might prevent the eventual loss of eyesight," she added, reported Eurekalert.

Ikeda and team worked deliberately on the stuff that causes the neural cells in the eye to die and as a result found that an enzyme called VCP (valosin-contianing protein) breaks down the ATP that serves energy to the neural cells. The process of breaking down of ATP is referred to as ATPase and ATP is the cellular currency of energy in every cell.

Researchers then developed the compound KUSs to inhibit VCP activity, reduce cellular stress, protect neurons and maintain ATP levels. KUSs, when given to mice orally or through injection they could protect the neurons and prevent further thinning of the retina. KUSs thereby preserved vision by maintaining the level of ATPs in the neuronal cells.

"In cells that are dying, an almost universal phenomenon is that ATP levels gradually decrease," Ikeda said. "KUSs maintain cellular ATP levels by inhibiting the ATPase activity of VCP. In other words, inhibiting the ATPase activity of VCP frees up ATP for other essential cellular processes and consequently prevents or retards cell death."