Glaucoma filtration surgery in monkeys using 5-fluorouridine in polyanhydride disks

We performed filtration surgery in glaucomatous monkeys to determine if bioerodible polyanhydride disks that contained 5-fluorouridine (5-FUR) prolonged the success of the operation. First, in vitro studies demonstrated that 5-fluorouridine was released from the disks for at least 16 days in a bioactive form that inhibited fibroblast proliferation. Next, a preliminary series of six eyes suggested that using disks that contained 5-fluorouridine extended the intraocular pressure-lowering effect of filtration surgery. This finding was confirmed in eight additional eyes of four animals in which one eye received a disk with 5-fluorouridine and the other received a disk without the drug. The duration of success of the operation was significantly longer in the eyes that received polyanhydride with 5-fluorouridine (mean +/- SD, 26.0 +/- 9.2 days) than in the controls (8.5 +/- 4.0 days). The histologic findings of the experimental eyes correlated with their prolonged clinical success.