Objective: To study the intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction of latanoprost or timolol in a heterogeneous global population.
Methods: A total of 1,389 glaucoma or ocular hypertensive patients treated with 0.005% latanoprost once daily (n = 737) or 0.5% timolol twice daily (n = 652) from eight clinical trials were included. After 3-6 months of treatment, the IOP was analyzed with use of analysis of covariance.
Results: Latanoprost or timolol gave statistically significant mean diurnal IOP reduction in the African-American, Asian, Caucasian, and Mexican patients, latanoprost with 7.9 mm Hg and timolol with 6.4 mm Hg. The Asian and Mexican patients showed a larger difference in mean diurnal IOP reduction with use of the two drugs (range 1.8-3.1 mm Hg) than the European and U.S. patients (range 0.6-1.7 mm Hg, p = 0.030). Latanoprost produced similar mean diurnal IOP reduction in patients with and without previous glaucoma treatment other than prostaglandins.
Conclusion: Latanoprost or timolol statistically significantly reduced the mean diurnal IOP in a heterogenous global population in eight clinical trials. The degree of reduction appeared to be clinically useful. The greatest difference in the mean diurnal IOP-lowering effect of latanoprost or timolol was observed in Mexican and Asian clinical trials.