Welcome to M.V Hospital for Diabetes, established by late Prof. M.Viswanathan, Doyen of Diabetology in India in 1954 as a general hospital. In 1971 it became a hospital exclusively for Diabetes care. It has, at present,100 beds for the treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Diabetic Retinopathy – Another angle:

Is this the start of new therapies for retinopathy?













Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of uncontrolled diabetes that leads to impaired vision and blindness among people with  diabetes. High blood glucose levels result in the abnormal development of tiny blood vessels in the eye. Research has shown that tight glycaemic control reduces the development and progression of diabetic  retinopathy. However, the way in which high blood glucose levels affect blood vessel development in the eye is not completely understood.

Michael D. Dennis, PhD, is working on the assumption that high blood glucose contributes to retinopathy by altering the genes that get made into proteins in a manner that results in retinopathy.

His laboratory identified a molecular switch that determines which proteins are made in the retina of the eye. The high blood glucose levels in diabetes seem to cause another set of genes to be made into proteins. Among these proteins is one called "vascular endothelial growth factor" (VEGF) that causes blood vessels in the eye to multiply abnormally, and these increased blood vessels lead to the development of retinopathy.

Dr. Dennis has now identified one of the key factors involved in making the change as a protein called "4E-BP1" and it is present at higher levels in the eyes of laboratory animals with diabetes. Dr. Dennis compared laboratory mice that do not have the 4E-BP1 protein with those that have 4E-BP1 and found that diabetic animals lacking 4E-BP1 did not suffer from vison loss; unlike normal mice with 4E-BP1.

The researchers also demonstrated a link between blood glucose levels and the amount of 4E-BP1 present in the retina by testing with a drug that lowers blood glucose levels in diabetic animals. They discovered that reducing blood glucose levels with the drug also reduced the amount of 4E-BP1 in the retina.

How is 4E-BP1 regulated by high blood glucose levels?

Studies demonstrate that high blood glucose prevents 4E-BP1 from being broken down normally. This may be an important step leading to the change that results in the production of proteins that ultimately lead to the development of diabetic retinopathy.

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