Protective effect of a novel selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitor on eye ischemia-reperfusion induced glaucoma

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness, affecting > 2 million people in the United States. Recently, 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) inhibitors were found to exert preventive effects against glaucoma. However, there is no evidence for the role of 11β-HSD1 inhibitors against glaucoma. Here, we developed a novel 11β-HSD1 inhibitor, (1R,2S,3S,5R,6S,7S)-6-(2-(6-(2,6-dichloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-4-methyl-1,1-dioxido-1,2,6-thiadiazinan-2-yl)acetamido)-adamantane-2-carboxamide (KR-67607) and showed its protective effects against ischemia-reperfusion-induced eye injury. We demonstrate that KR-67607 effectively reduced cortisol levels in mouse eyes and maintained the trabecular meshwork (TM) structure in the presence of transient ischemic stress. Furthermore, KR-67607 reversed the elevation of intra-ocular pressure (IOP), suggesting that the TM structure maintained by KR-67607 prevented the excessive rise in IOP that exacerbates glaucoma. KR-67607 was shown to have a higher specificity for 11β-HSD1 than carbenoxolone (CBX) in vitro. Moreover, KR-67607 reduced apoptosis and the structural disruption of TM cells. Antioxidation was the major protective pathway of KR-67607 against chemically-induced ischemia-reperfusion in TM cells and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) was closely associated with this pathway. When TM cells undergo ischemic stress, GR is activated and then translocates to the cell nucleus where it interferes with Nrf-2-mediated antioxidant gene expression. However, when KR-67607 inhibited GR translocation, Nrf-2 was able to induce antioxidant gene transcription, which consequently, enhanced the antioxidant capacity of the cells. In conclusion, our current work describes a novel selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitor for glaucoma treatment and provides evidence of its physiological role in anti-oxidative pathways in the TM.