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Potential New Approach for Treating Retinopathy Identified
JDRF-funded scientists have found a potential new approach for treating diabetic retinopathy, the most common and serious eye-related complication of diabetes. In a study in mice, scientists were able to prevent the leak of retinal blood vessels, a cause of retinopathy, by as much as 70% by inhibiting the action of an enzyme known as plasma kallikrein. The approach also lowered the animals' high blood pressure, another source of diabetic eye disease. Dr. Ed Feener of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston conducted this work.
What this may mean for people with type 1 diabetes: The findings represent a pivotal step toward understanding the importance of plasma kallikrein in the development of eye disease and for uncovering how its inhibition may support the development of a safe and effective therapy for diabetic retinopathy. Further studies are continuing with JDRF support.
Scientists Advance Understanding of "Hyperglycemic Memory"
In a potential breakthrough in determining why diabetes causes cardiovascular complications, researchers have shown that even short-term hyperglycemic spikes in blood sugar can have dramatic and long-lasting effects on vascular cells. The findings suggest that these transient spikes of hyperglycemia may be a risk factor for diabetic complications that is independent of a person's HbA1c levels. The researchers found that the spikes cause long-lasting changes in a specific gene, and then the increased expression of that gene launches a cascade of events ending with the activation of several inflammatory genes. These changes persisted even during subsequent periods of normal blood-sugar levels. The study was led by Michael Brownlee, director of the JDRF International Center for Diabetic Complications Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
What this may mean for people with type 1 diabetes: The study suggests that tight blood glucose control aimed not just at reducing average blood sugar levels but also at avoiding spikes in blood sugar is important in preventing cardiovascular complications. It also opens the door to potential new ways to treat - and even prevent or reverse - complications. Researchers may be able to target therapies to the changes unleashed by short-term hyperglycemic spikes as a way to minimize inflammation and limit vascular damage.
