Restoration of Retinal Vascular Responses in Type 1 Diabetic Patients

Summary

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. The causes of the disease are poorly understood. One of the earliest changes that occur in the retinas of diabetic patients, well before overt retinopathy is observed, is a reduction in light-evoked increases in blood flow in retinal vessels. The loss of this vascular response may lead to retinal hypoxia and it has been suggested that hypoxia could be a principal cause of diabetic retinopathy. The long-term goals of this project are to determine whether decreased blood flow in diabetic patients and the resulting retinal hypoxia contributes to the development of diabetic retinopathy and whether restoration of normal blood flow in diabetic patients slows or prevents the development of retinopathy.

Timeline

Start

2016-07

Primary completion

2017-12

Completion

2017-12

Drugs

Indications