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Retinopathy

Alternative News:

• Urolithin A ameliorates diabetic retinopathy via activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway - Endocr J 2022 Mar 24 - "UA can ameliorate DR by repressing inflammation and oxidative stress via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, which suggests that UA could be an effective drug for clinical DR treatment" - See urolithin a supplement at Amazon.com.
• Chlorogenic acid improves diabetic retinopathy by alleviating blood-retinal-barrier dysfunction via inducing Nrf2 activation - Phytother Res 2022 Feb 8 - "As one of the major diabetic microvascular complications, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is mainly initiated by the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) dysfunction. Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is a natural polyphenolic compound in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, which traditionally has the beneficial function for eyes and is commonly included in many anti-diabetic formulas ... All results suggest that CGA improves DR through attenuating BRB injury by reducing microglia-initiated inflammation and preventing TNFα-induced EndoMT/EMT and oxidative injury via inducing Nrf2 activation" - See chlorogenic acid at Amazon.com.
• Inactive matrix Gla protein is a novel circulating biomarker predicting retinal arteriolar narrowing in humans - Scientific Reportsvolume 8, Article number: 15088 (2018) - "Our observations highlight the possibility that vitamin K supplementation might promote retinal health" - [Nutra USA] - See MK-7 at Amazon.com.
• Fatty Fish May Curb Eye Risks for Diabetics, Study Finds - WebMD, 8/18/16 - "The team found that those who routinely consumed 500 milligrams (mg) a day of omega-3 fatty acid in their diets (equal to two servings of fatty fish per week) were 48 percent less likely to develop diabetic retinopathy than those who consumed less" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Diabetic Retinopathy - Medscape, 5/28/16 - "The mechanism could be twofold, he said. Studies suggest that vitamin D might improve insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes and may also directly reduce vascular endothelial growth factors. (Thus, deficiency would have the opposite effects.) ... For any diabetic retinopathy, the odds ratio (OR) between those with and without vitamin D deficiency was 1.391 (P = .011). For nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, the OR was 1.209 (P = .001), and for proliferative retinopathy 1.315 (P < .001). For all the studies combined, the odds ratio was 1.267 (P < .001)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Protective Effects of Panax notoginseng Saponins against High Glucose-Induced Oxidative Injury in Rat Retinal Capillary Endothelial Cell - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016;2016:5326382 - "Diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of visual loss and blindness, is characterized by microvascular dysfunction. Hyperglycemia is considered the major pathogenic factor for diabetic retinopathy and is associated with increased oxidative stress in the retina ... Panax notoginseng Saponins (PNS) in retinal capillary endothelial cells (RCECs) ... These results indicate that PNS exerts a protective effect against high glucose-induced injury in RCECs, which may be partially attributed to its antioxidative function" - See ginseng at Amazon.com.
• Vaccinium myrtillus extract prevents or delays the onset of diabetes--induced blood-retinal barrier breakdown - Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2015 Jan 13 - "bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) ... V. myrtillus extract ... VME may prevent or delay the onset of early diabetic retinopathy. These findings have important implications for prevention of diabetic retinopathy using a dietary bilberry supplement" - See bilberry at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of retinopathy in Chinese patients with Type 2 diabetes - Diabet Med. 2014 Sep 3 - "Vitamin D deficiency is an independent risk factor for diabetic retinopathy and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy. The prevalence of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy doubles when the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level is < 15.57 ng/ml" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Relationship between metformin use, vitamin B12 deficiency, hyperhomocysteinemia and vascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes - Endocr J. 2013 Sep 8 - "Metformin-induced B12 lowering in diabetes was associated with elevation of homocysteine, and hyperhomocysteinemia was independently related to retinopathy" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.
• Statins may prevent diabetic-related blindness, study suggests - Science Daily, 2/17/11 - "oral treatment with the drug atorvastatin blocked the formation of free radicals in the retina, which restored proper levels of nerve growth factor and preserved neurons in the retina. "It removed the break on the pro-form nerve growth factor to develop into its mature form," she said. The drug was orally administered to rats in doses proportional to levels given to human patients with cardiovascular problems ... In a related study, also in the March edition of the journal Diabetologia, El-Remessy and her colleagues found that epicathecin, a component of green tea, also prevented the adverse actions of proNGF in the retina. It does not affect the maturation of proNGF into NGF, explained El-Remessy, but regulated a receptor downstream that proNGF uses to send a signal to kill the neuron. Epicathechin prevents the death by inhibiting that receptor. "We are still getting the same result, that we are preventing neuronal death and restoring neuronal function, but just in a different way,"" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• How omega 3s help to prevent several forms of blindness - Science Daily, 2/9/11 - "The cost of omega-3 supplementation is about $10 a month, versus up to $4,000 a month for anti-VEGF therapy ... In the new study, they document another protective mechanism: a direct effect on blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) that selectively promotes the growth of healthy blood vessels and inhibits the growth of abnormal vessels ... In addition, Smith and colleagues isolated the specific compound from omega-3 fatty acids that has these beneficial effects in mice (a metabolite of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA, known as 4-HDHA), and the enzyme that produces it (5-lipoxygenase, or 5-LOX). They showed that COX enzymes are not involved in omega-3 breakdown, suggesting that aspirin and NSAIDs -- taken by millions of Americans -- will not interfere with omega-3 benefits ... Finally, the study demonstrated that 5-LOX acts by activating the PPAR-gamma receptor, the same receptor targeted by "glitazone" drugs such as Avandia, taken by patients with type 2 diabetes to increase their sensitivity to insulin. Since these drugs also increase the risk for heart disease, boosting omega-3 intake through diet or supplements might be a safer way to improve insulin sensitivity in patients with diabetes or pre-diabetes" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Other News:

• Diet Soda Linked to Increased Risk for Diabetic Retinopathy - Medscape, 12/31/18 - "In our clinical sample of people with diabetes, consuming more than four cans, or 1.5 liters, of diet soft drinks per week was associated with a twofold increased risk of having proliferative diabetic retinopathy ... Interestingly, the study did not find a correlation between consumption of regular, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and increased risk for diabetic retinopathy"
• Three Eye Conditions Linked to Higher Alzheimer's Risk - Medscape, 8/14/18 - "Participants recently diagnosed with glaucoma had a 46% increased likelihood of developing AD. Similarly, the risk among those recently diagnosed with AMD or diabetic retinopathy had a 50% increased AD risk compared with their counterparts without these conditions"
• Blood glucose levels that predict 10-year risk of retinopathy identified - Science Daily, 2/14/11
• Influence of glycosylated hemoglobin on sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy: A population-based study - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2011 Feb 3 - "sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) ... A statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was noted in the duration of diabetes, gender, body mass index, HbA1c, micro- and macro-albuminuria between both non-STDR and STDR groups as compared to the no-diabetic retinopathy (DR) group. On multivariate analysis, HbA1c (non-STDR: odd's ratio OR=1.23; 95% confidence interval CI=1.15-1.32; p<0.0001; STDR: OR=1.31 95% CI=1.14-1.52; p<0.0001) was found to be significantly associated with non-STDR and STDR when compared with the no-DR group. The Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis showed that the cut-off value of 8.0 had 75.6% sensitivity and 58.2% specificity with 64.9% maximum area under the curve ... HbA1c value >8.0% was significantly related with STDR. In a screening programme, the cut-off value of HbA1c >8.0% provided a maximum yield of STDR"
• Inhibition of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) protects pancreatic β-cells - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Nov 24 - "Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) have been linked to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. AGEs may induce β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis, another complication of diabetes ... Inhibition of RAGE prevented AGE-induced pancreatic β-cell apoptosis, but could not restore the function of glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in rat islets. In summary, the results of the present study demonstrate that AGEs are integrally involved in RAGE-mediated apoptosis and impaired GSIS dysfunction in pancreatic β-cells. Inhibition of RAGE can effectively protect β-cells against AGE-induced apoptosis, but can not reverse islet dysfunction in GSIS"
• More evidence on benefits of high blood pressure drugs in diabetic eye disease - Science Daily, 1/18/10