Limiting side effects from Luxturna treatment
Researchers discovered a method to reduce Luxturna injection-related inflammation, improving safety and potentially preventing chorioretinal atrophy.
Researchers have discovered a way of possibly dampening the unwanted immune response that is sometimes seen alongside Luxturna injection.
In gene therapy, copies of the healthy gene are usually packaged in viruses to aid their delivery and use by retinal cells. However, these viruses can prompt the recipient’s immune system to ramp up inflammation in the eye. Surgeons typically deliver coritcosteroids into the eye alongside the gene therapy injection, and in most cases this keeps inflammation to a minimum, with no ongoing consequences.
However, since Luxturna was approved for general clinical use in 2019, it has become apparent that in around 20% of treated eyes, inflammation can lead to an unwanted side effect called chorioretinal atrophy. This involves thinning of an area of retinal tissue, which might in some cases impact certain aspects of vision. , The new research, led by Prof Sylvain Fisson in Paris, clarified more precisely the immune system processes causing the unwanted inflammation. Based on that new understanding, they then found a way to “distract” the immune system and dampen down the inflammatory response to a greater degree than could be achieved by steroid injection.
The team’s work was carried out in mice and their method will need further testing before it can be applied alongside viral vector-based gene therapies in humans. However, the new research paves the way for safer application of these treatments in future.