In Diabetes Today -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29-JAN-2007
Diabetic Retinopathy Discovery Announced
BOSTON, Jan 29, 2007 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. diabetes researchers say they've discovered the protein that causes blood vessel leakage in the eyes of people suffering from diabetic retinopathy.
A team led by investigators from the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston says the discovery might lead to new treatments for eye diseases and brain swelling caused by head injury, stroke and other conditions.
Although health professionals have had success in treating diabetic retinopathy, two forms of the disease -- proliferative diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema -- still are the leading causes of vision loss and blindness among working age adults in the developed world.
Now the Joslin-led researchers have compiled the most complete inventory yet available of the proteins present in a part of the human eye known as the vitreous and have identified a group of proteins that may play critical roles in causing blood vessel leakage.
The study appears in the Jan. 28 online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.