Abstract

BASTI KARMA - A NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM IN POSTERIOR SEGMENT DISEASES OF EYE

Prasanta Kumar Sahoo* and Shamsa Fiaz

Abstract

Although topical therapies have been greatly developed and emphasised in ocular therapeutics in the form of Kriyakalpa in Ayurveda, but due to anatomical and physiological barriers like blood aqueous barrier and blood retinal barrier in Ophthalmic tissues, drug delivery poses a challenge towards drug permeability and bioavailability to the posterior segment of the eye. Posterior segment diseases like Diabetic retinopathy, Age related macular degeneration (ARMD), vascular and degenerative disorders of retina, Glaucoma and optic nerve disorders are emerging disorders of the twenty first century and posing a major challenge for ophthalmologist across the world and the treatment efficacy is dependent on the drug delivery to the target tissues of the eye for optimum therapeutic effect. Susruta, Vagbhata and Yogaratnakar had advocated Basti treatment in Timir chikitsa. Routes of drug administration that are currently used in contemporary medicine to treat posterior segment diseases are the intraocular (i.e., intravitreal injection) and periocular (i.e., sub-Tenon‟s injection) routes. However, intraocular drug delivery is the most invasive method often associated with many complications. In Ayurvedic therapeutics, Basti treatment is well established in vascular and neuronal disorders and often recommended in complicated and chronic disorders which also have systemic background. It has also been an established fact that high dosage is needed for drug delivery to posterior segment disorders which can be fulfilled through Basti chikitsa irrespective of the palatability. Hence an attempt has been made to study and explore another route of drug administration in the form of Basti procedure for effective drug delivery to posterior segment diseases of eye for achieving optimum therapeutic effect.

Keywords: ARMD, Basti, Diabetic Retinopathy, Drug delivery, Eye Diseases, Glaucoma, Posterior segment eye disorders.