A New Strategy for the Prevention of Keratoconus Progression?

Purpose: Keratoconus may be associated with imbalances of sex hormones such as reduced testosterone levels in affected males.In this study, an evolutionary and natural mechanism to increase testosterone levels in males via exposure to the synthetic female pheromone fortidin was evaluated. Materials and methods:In a precursor study n = 16 healthy young males were exposed to Placebo, 2 mg fortidin (5 mL of a 0.04% fortidin solution), and 4 mg fortidin (5 mL of a 0.08% fortidin solution).The testosterone levels were measured before and after the exposure.The pre-exposure testosterone levels were measured three times and the postexposure testosterone level only once in the same n = 16 individuals.The n = 16 mean and standard deviation of the n = 48 pre-exposure measurements in comparison to the n = 16 post-exposure data were statistically analyzed.Results: The exposure to 4 mg fortidin (5 mL of a 0.08% fortidin solution) increases the measured testosterone level by 28.8%.This increase in testosterone level is statistically significant (p < 0.05).The increase of the testosterone level by the lower concentration was not statistically significant. Conclusion:The exposure of young healthy men to 4 mg fortidin (5 mL solution containing 0.08% fortidin) results in a significant increase in their testosterone levels.This mechanism may be important in the future for the prevention and/or treatment of keratoconus.Further studies are in progress.