Effects of dopamine agonist, bromocriptine, and some dopamine antagonists on ocular blood flow.

A dopamine agonist, bromocriptine, and several dopamine antagonists, domperidone, haloperidol, floropipamide and chlofluperol, were studied for their effects on the ocular blood flow. Both domperidone and haloperidol are ocular hypotensive agents and are able to increase the ocular blood flow significantly. Floropipamide had little effect on the intraocular pressure (IOP), yet it reduced the ocular blood flow markedly. Chlofluperol is an ocular hypertensive agent, yet it increased the ocular blood flow significantly. Although bromocriptine lowered the IOP, it did not affect the ocular blood flow. These results indicate that the changes of ocular blood flow are independent of the changes of the IOP. Therefore, it is critical to develop antiglaucoma agents which can increase retinal and choroidal blood flow in addition to lowering the IOP.