Testing Bimatoprost drug in thyroid eye disease

What is it about?

We tested Bimatoprost treatment in 31 patients affected with thyroid eye disease (late-inactive phase), in comparison with placebo (a control substance with no therapeutic effect). Bimatoprost did not reduce the eyes protrusion, therefore it is not indicated as a treatment for late-inactive GO.

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Why is it important?

The thyroid eye disease is an inflammatory condition of the orbit (skull cavity containing several tissues surrounding the eye) that can be associated with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid gland. The mechanisms causing thyroid eye disease are still largely unknown, however an increase of fat tissue amount within the orbit is surely involved, pushing the eyes out (poppy eyes). Two phases exist for the thyroid eye disease: an early active phase when the inflammatory processes predominate (proliferation of several intra-orbital cell types causing poppy, red, swollen, painful eyes and surrounding tissues) and a late inactive phase where inflammatory processes are substituted with thickening and scarring of orbital connective tissues (permanent consequences). Bimatoprost is a drug known to reduce adipose tissue formation in laboratory experiments; in this study we tested whether it was able to induce the same effect in patients with thyroid eye disease, thus expecting an improvement of their poppy eyes.

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