Our eyes are a window to this world and like other parts of our body are
affected by various diseases and injuries. Prevalence of various ocular diseases is
although very high, very few remedies are available. Diseases affecting eye and vision
are on the rise particularly those associated with potentially blinding conditions such as
diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Prevention
appears to be a better modality for most of the ocular diseases compared to that of the
treatment options. Natural compounds have found its use in the prevention and
treatment of many ocular diseases. Several natural compounds with properties such as
anti-oxidative, anti-proliferative, immunomodulatory have been implicated in the
prevention of various ocular diseases. However, there are many avenues left for the
application of natural compounds for the prevention and treatment of various ocular
diseases. Understanding of the probable mechanism responsible for the disease
formation, identification of targets, evaluation of candidate molecules by in silico, in
vitro and in vivo assays can strengthen the application of natural compounds for the
prevention of ocular diseases. Besides disease prevention, natural compounds have also
found its use in various ocular surgical procedures.
Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration, Anti-aging, Anti-inflammatory,
Antioxidants, Anti-proliferative, Apoptosis, Cataract, Diabetic retinopathy, Dry
eye, Eye disorders, Eye injuries, Glaucoma, Immunomodulatory, Intraocular
pressure, Natural compounds, Ocular surgeries, Ocular viscoelastic devices,
Phytochemicals, Phacoemulsification, Viscoelastic substance.
