Ocular hypotensive action of labetalol in rabbit and human eyes

The ocular hypotensive action of labetalol, a drug endowed with alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptor-blocking properties, was studied in both rabbit and human eyes. In the rabbit, using two different models of experimentally induced ocular hypertension, an impressive decrease of IOP was seen after topical administration of the drug. In this species labetalol was found to be at least as effective as timolol and more active than pilocarpine or propranolol. In human eyes suffering from glaucoma, however, its effectiveness was much less evident and clearly inferior to that of timolol.