DIABETIC RETINAL NEURODEGENERATION

Abstract

           Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is recognised as the leading cause of blindness and low vision among people of working age. Diagnosis and grading of the disease is based on detection and statement, first of all, of vascular changes in the retina: haemorrhages, microaneurysms, non-vascular zones and newly formed vessels. However, in the last decade, there has been considerable research and data suggesting that retinal neurodegeneration occurs at earlier stages than vascular abnormalities. This suggests that neuronal damage may play a key role in the development of the disease and may be considered as an independent therapeutic target. This review will discuss the existing evidence and its possible clinical implications for understanding diabetic retinal neurodegeneration. Accumulating research data show that patients with qandli diabet(QD) experience progressive to’r parda thinning and visual impairment even before signs of diabetic retinopathy appear. At the same time, modern methods of to’r parda vascular imaging show signs of vascular remodelling and chorioideal changes at early stages. Histological studies of tissues from experimental animals with diabetes and in-vitro experiments confirm that QD can directly affect to’r parda nerve and glial cells, supporting the hypothesis that to’r parda neurodegeneration begins early in the disease and revealing possible disease mechanisms and potential targets for treatment.