title: Mitochondrial dysfunction and diabetic retinopathy.
abstract: Mitochondrial dysfunction may predispose to the development of diabetes mellitus with the accompanying risk for developing diabetic retinopathy or may contribute directly to the diabetic metabolic dysregulation and thereby increase the risk of diabetic late complications including retinopathy. Diabetes mellitus in mitochondrial disease can lead to the development of vision threatening retinopathy, but visual acuity is often reduced secondary to neurological deficits resulting from the mitochondrial dysfunction. The relation between mitochondrial disease and diabetic retinopathy can be influenced by epigenetics where factors in the environment modify the expression of regulatory proteins coding for the elimination of reactive oxygen species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: toke.bek@mail.tele.dk.
authors.forename: Toke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bek
mesh_terms: D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
keywords: Diabetic retinopathy; Metabolism; Mitochondrial dysfunction; Syndromes