seoul English news | seoul, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main vascular complications of type 2 diabetes and the most common cause of visual deterioration in adults. In a breakthrough study, researchers, using a mouse model, have identified a potential treatment candidate for early diabetic retinopathy which has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects.Published in The American Journal of Pathology, the team reports on the efficacy of a possible treatment candidate that showed anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects on the retina and optic nerve head in early type 2 diabetic retinopathy using a diabetic mouse model.Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The cause is usually attributed to high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), but several studies have shown that inflammation is also an important factor in the progression of the disorder."Inflammation causes neurodegeneration as well as microvascular abnormalities in the retina," explained lead investigator Jin A. Choi, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea."Diabetic retinal neurodegeneration can occur before the onset of clinical diabetic retinal microvascular abnormalities. Therefore, therapeutics for neurodegeneration may provide a novel interventional strategy in the window period between the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and the onset of clinically mfested diabetic retinopathy."Investigators analysed and compared the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) lixisenatide in the retina and the optic nerve head with those of insulin in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.They divided diabetic mice into three groups; GLP-1RA (LIX); insulin (INS) with controlled hyperglycemia based on the glucose concentration of LIX; and a control group (D-CON). Nondiabetic control mice were also characterised for comparison.After eight weeks of treatment, neuroinflammation caused by type 2 diabetes was significantly reduced in GLP-1RA-treated retinas and optic nerve heads compared with untreated or even insulin-treated retinas of early-type 2 diabetic mice, showing that the outcomes are independent of the glucose-lowering effect of GLP-1RA."This study can provide a possible therapeutic strategy to prevent visual deterioration by using GLP-1RA in early type 2 diabetic retinopathy," noted first author Yeon Woong Chung, MD, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea."GLP-1RA significantly suppressed neuroinflammation in the early diabetic retinopathy, whereas insulin had little or no suppressive effect in this study.""Retinal ganglion cells start to die even before clinical changes such as haemorrhages in diabetic retinopathy occur," commented Dr Choi."Thus, for better visual prognosis, we need to focus on the treatment of the retina in early type 2 diabetes before the clinical onset of diabetic retinopathy," Dr Choi added.( With inputs from ANI )

SeoulFOLLOW

Seoul, Latest News

South Korean health authorities said on Friday that this weekend will be a critical juncture in the country's efforts ... ...

A week after gas leak from its plant near here left 12 people dead and landed over 400 in ... ...

Some 35,000 people have been tested in connection with the recently detected coronavirus outbreak in clubs in Seoul, which ... ...

South Korean petrochemicals major LG Chem has sent an eight-member technical team from its Seoul headquarters to Visakhapatnam to ... ...

Coronavirus infections are rising in the United States and other countries as governments across borders have started easing social distancing guidelines and restrictions that have kept millions isolated and decimated economies. ...

South Korea was on alert Saturday as more than a dozen people infected with the coronavirus from clubs in ... ...

South Korea discovered 11 more bone fragments, believed to be from soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border with North Korea, the Defence Ministry said here on Friday.Last year, the military found a ...

Published in The American Journal of Pathology, the team reports on the efficacy of a possible treatment candidate that showed anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects on the retina and optic nerve head in early type 2 diabetic retinopathy using ...