Efficacy and Safety of rAAV2-ND4 Treatment for Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a mitochondrially inherited disease leading to blindness. A mitochondrial DNA point mutation at the 11778 nucleotide site of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) gene is the most common cause. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a recombinant adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) carrying ND4 (rAAV2-ND4) in LHON patients carrying the G11778A mutation. Nine patients were administered rAAV2-ND4 by intravitreal injection to one eye and then followed for 9 months. Ophthalmologic examinations of visual acuity, visual field, and optical coherence tomography were performed. Physical examinations included routine blood and urine. The visual acuity of the injected eyes of six patients improved by at least 0.3 log MAR after 9 months of follow-up. In these six patients, the visual field was enlarged but the retinal nerve fibre layer remained relatively stable. No other outcome measure was significantly changed. None of the nine patients had local or systemic adverse events related to the vector during the 9-month follow-up period. These findings support the feasible use of gene therapy for LHON.