Tafluprost: A Systematic Review of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Potential in the Management of Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension

Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide. Treatment of glaucoma mainly aims at improving the visual loss and hence quality of life. Conventional drugs used are adrenoreceptor agonists, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, β-adrenergic receptor antagonists, anticholinergics and prostaglandin (PG) analogues. PG analogues have taken the centre stage for the management of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) due to their better efficacy, tolerability, low-cost and once-a-day dosing. After Latanoprost, Travoprost and Bimatoprost, Tafluprost is a new PGF 2α receptor agonist that has recently been approved for use in OAG and ocular hypertension. It is available in both preserved and preservative-free (PF) formulation. Its PF formulation offers an extra advantage to patients who develop adverse effects due to preserved ocular hypotensives. Various animal and human studies have demonstrated comparable intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering efficacy and better tolerability of preserved and PF tafluprost in glaucomatous patients to the conventional anti-glaucoma drugs. This review elucidates the available evidence on efficacy and safety of this drug after analysing preclinical and clinical studies of this drug conducted across the world in OAG and ocular hypertension. Pubmed, Cochrane database, Medscape, Google and clinicaltrial.org were searched for terms like tafluprost, ocular hypertension and open-angle glaucoma. Relevant journal articles were chosen to provide the necessary information.