Reducing inflammation partially restored the aging retina’s ability to generate new neurons from support cells, offering a possible route to improve experimental regeneration.

To replace nerve cells lost to glaucoma, researchers are looking to cells already living alongside them. Called glia, these cells support and nourish neurons in the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The idea is to give them a different job, turning them into new neurons that could replace those lost to disease.

Scientists have managed to do this in young mice. But an approach intended for diseases of aging also needs to work in older tissue. A study from the laboratory of Levi Todd, PhD, at Upstate Medical University found that aging makes that transformation much harder. It also identified a potential way to help, with anti-inflammatory steroids partially restoring the aging retina’s regenerative response.