[The intraocular pressure depressive effect of puerarin]

The IOP depressive effect of puerarin, a beta-receptor blocker, was found to be optimal at the concentration of 1% in animal experiments. Clinical trial use on glaucoma patients (80 cases, 143 eyes) demonstrated good IOP depressive effect on primary open--or closed-angle glaucoma and secondary glaucoma. For all types of glaucoma not satisfactorily controlled by conventional drugs such as timolol and pilocarpine or by operation, the addition of puerarin also yielded favorably results. The total effective rate was 70.63%. The raw herb is produced in quantity, hence puerarin is a promising agent for the treatment of glaucoma in China.