Specific medical intervention for diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetes is a global epidemic and the major complication of diabetes in the eye, diabetic retinopathy, is a leading cause of blindness in several countries. Medical and surgical interventions have been formally investigated for over half a century, but currently only surgical interventions are the standard of care and these treatments are not without significant side effects. Several clinical trials have investigated a protein kinase C (PKC) beta inhibitor as a possible medical intervention for diabetic retinopathy. Though successful in animal studies and smaller clinical studies, the drug showed only marginal success in clinical trials. It is likely that the clinical trials failed for two reasons: (1) enrolling patients with too severe a disease state at baseline and (2) utilizing conventional outcome measures that essentially require severe disease states at baseline for evaluation after a standard follow-up time. Additional clinical trials that enroll patients with earlier stages of diabetic retinopathy and/or utilizing more sensitive surrogate outcomes over a longer follow-up would likely show clinical success of PKC-beta inhibition for the treatment of the diabetic retinopathy.
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Jason S
JS
Department of Basic and Visual Science, Southern California College of Optometry, 2575 Yorba Linda Blvd, Fullerton, CA 92831, USA. jng@scco.edu
D000818:Animals; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011493:Protein Kinase C