| 摘要 |
Provided is a method of treating or preventing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a patient subject to, or symptomatic of the disease, wherein the method comprises restoring normal lysosomal pH (pHL), or acidifying an abnormally elevated PHL, thus decreasing or preventing a damaging accumulation of lipofuscin or waste products in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells of the eye of the patient. Further, this method is achieved by elevating cAMP by administering or stimulating receptors coupled to a Gs protein in an amount sufficient to decrease the elevated pHL or restore acidity of said lysosomes, specifically by administering or stimulating receptors comprising D1-like dopamine receptors by the use of D1-like dopamine receptor agonists. Methods for selecting and quantifying the effectiveness of drugs to restore PHL and determine outer segment clearance rates is also provided using a high through-put screening protocol. |
