Neuroprotection as a Therapeutic Target for Diabetic Retinopathy
Hernández, Cristina (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Dal Monte, Massimo (Interdepartmental Research Center Nutrafood "Nutraceuticals and Food for Health", University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy)
Simó Canonge, Rafael (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Casini, Giovanni (Interdepartmental Research Center Nutrafood "Nutraceuticals and Food for Health", University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Data:	2016
Resum:	Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a multifactorial progressive disease of the retina and a leading cause of vision loss. DR has long been regarded as a vascular disorder, although neuronal death and visual impairment appear before vascular lesions, suggesting an important role played by neurodegeneration in DR and the appropriateness of neuroprotective strategies. Upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the main target of current therapies, is likely to be one of the first responses to retinal hyperglycemic stress and VEGF may represent an important survival factor in early phases of DR. Of central importance for clinical trials is the detection of retinal neurodegeneration in the clinical setting, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography seems the most indicated technique. Many substances have been tested in animal studies for their neuroprotective properties and for possible use in humans. Perhaps, the most intriguing perspective is the use of endogenous neuroprotective substances or nutraceuticals. Together, the data point to the central role of neurodegeneration in the pathogenesis of DR and indicate neuroprotection as an effective strategy for treating this disease. However, clinical trials to determine not only the effectiveness and safety but also the compliance of a noninvasive route of drug administration are needed.
Nota:	Altres ajuts: This study has been funded by the European Commission in the setting of the FP7-HEALTH-2011 and the results will be available in April 2016.
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Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicat a:	Journal of Diabetes Research, Vol. 2016 (march 2016) , ISSN 2314-6753

DOI: 10.1155/2016/9508541
PMID: 27123463

18 p, 767.0 KB

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