Prostaglandin analogs linked to systemic adverse events, especially in elderly patients

Although prostaglandin analogs are effective for treating open-angle glaucoma, they are associated with systemic adverse drug events (ADEs), particularly in elderly and female patients, a study found. Hypersensitivity reactions were the most common ADE, but other conditions, such as cardiac events and skin issues, were also linked to specific drugs in this class.

This retrospective study, which analyzed 30,853 reports from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Adverse Drug Event Reporting System (AERS) database, found that hypersensitivity reactions were the most common systemic ADE, with elderly female patients being the most affected. Specific adverse events varied across different prostaglandin analogs. Latanoprost was linked to conditions like angina pectoris and atrial tachycardia, while bimatoprost was associated with lentigo maligna melanoma, and tafluprost with labyrinthitis and skin discoloration.

Tafluprost was observed to have a statistically higher occurrence of death compared to other analogs, although no causal relationship could be established due to insufficient data on factors such as disease severity and concurrent treatments.

Reference
Sridharan K. Systemic adverse drug events to topical prostaglandin analogs for treating glaucoma: a retrospective focused pharmacovigilance study. BMC Ophthalmol. 2024;24(1):554. doi: 10.1186/s12886-024-03823-w. PMID: 39741235; PMCID: PMC11686995.