Included in the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's 2021 funded research www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/de... is a project from Joseph Larkin, University of Florida who seeks to design a topical eye drop, using a natural protein, which helps to prevent pain and blindness associated with equine recurrent uveitis.
Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), or moon blindness, is a serious disease in horses that has no cure. ERU currently affects 10-25% of the horse population. ERU is caused by a misdirected immune system. Usually the immune system does an excellent job in destroying infectious agents and cancers. In ERU, the immune system attacks components of the eye. Although ERU symptoms vary between horses, it has two main varieties. In the first variety (relapsing-remitting), horses have reoccurring periods of severe eye pain and swelling followed by periods minimal disease (remission). Each time the horse experiences a relapse, the immune system figures out better ways to attack the eye, resulting in more severe disease. In the second variety (insidious), the immune system never turns off, promoting steady eye damage. Although treatments are available, ERU remains one of the leading causes of blindness in horses. This is because the available treatments do not work for all horses or stop working as the disease progresses. Another complication is that the current treatments have significant side-effects, making them unsuitable for prolonged treatment of this life-long disease. There is a very real need for safer, more effective treatments for ERU.