title: Medical Therapies of Amblyopia: Translational Research to Expand Our Treatment Armamentarium.
abstract: Amblyopia is a developmental brain disorder in which vision is lost due to asymmetric or inadequate visual stimulation early in life. Although amblyopia is responsive to treatment if therapy is initiated early, treatment of older children and adults is usually unsuccessful due to closure of a window of cortical brain plasticity. Extensive basic research has been devoted to understanding modulators in shaping the visual cortex during the critical period of plasticity, and to providing potential clinical applications of neurotransmitters in the treatment of amblyopia. Current pharmacological treatments are reviewed from basic science research extending into clinical use, focusing on the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor donezepil, serotonin receptor inhibitor fluoxetine, dopamine precursors carbidopa-levodopa, and catecholamine modulator citicoline.
authors.affiliation: a Boston Children's Hospital , Boston , Massachusetts , USA.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gore
authors.affiliation: a Boston Children's Hospital , Boston , Massachusetts , USA.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002230:Carbidopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077265:Donepezil; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002230:Carbidopa; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D000077265:Donepezil; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005473:Fluoxetine; D007189:Indans; D007980:Levodopa; D010880:Piperidines; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; C009265:carbidopa, levodopa drug combination
keywords: Carbidopa-levodopa; critical period; donezepil; fluoxetine; plasticity