New hope for diabetics in treating blindness

Australian research has led to clinical trials of a drug which could provide a painless and non-destructive way to treat blindness in diabetics.

The University of Melbourne-led pre-clinical research prompted a world-wide, multi-centre clinical trial following the announcement of their results at an international conference last year.

The drug blocks a crucial pathway whose end products cause blindness and eye damage in diabetics, the leading cause of new blindness in adults around the world.

"A vital clue to our breakthrough came unexpectedly when treating diabetics for high blood pressure, another consequence of the disease," says Dr Jennifer Wilkinson-Berka, Head of The University's Diabetes and Vascular Biology Laboratory.

The team found that common drugs used to treat high blood pressure also improved kidney problems. The chemical system in the body that causes high blood pressure in diabetics was found to be the same culprit behind kidney failure.

The system, called Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS), is triggered by high blood glucose levels and its end product is a protein called angiotensin that causes cells to grow. Drugs used to treat high blood pressure block the chemical pathway in RAS that produces angiotensin.

"Diabetic patients now take these drugs to treat kidney damage, but nobody thought to look if RAS also operated in the eye," says Wilkinson-Berka.

"We found that various drugs that attack the pathways affected by or involving glucose successfully prevented the growth of blood vessels in the eye and kidney. It was this success that led to the funding for, and approval of, the clinical trial."

Item provided courtesy of The University of Melbourne