scholarly journals Optical Coherence Tomography Biomarkers of the Outer Blood—Retina Barrier in Patients with Diabetic Macular Oedema

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Ioana Damian ◽  
Simona Delia Nicoara

Background. Numerous studies confirmed the main role of the inner blood-retinal barrier in the development of Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO). Lately, the focus of research shifted towards the external retinal barrier with potential involvement in the pathogenesis of DMO. Objective. We aim to identify the OCT changes of the external blood-retinal barrier in patients with DMO and to define them as biomarkers with predictive value. Materials and method. We set up retrospectively 3 groups of patients diagnosed with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and DMO, proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and DMO, and controls. We compared the RPE thickness in every quadrant between groups and performed correlations between best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the thickness of the retinal layers. The Social Science Statistics platform was used for statistical tests. Results. The NPDR-DMO group consisted of 18 eyes, the PDR-DMO group consisted of 19 eyes, and the control group included 36 eyes. In the PDR-DMO group, RPE thickness was decreased in almost all quadrants ( p < 0.001 ); in the NPDR-DMO group, only the central minimum and central maximum values of the RPE thickness were significantly different from the control group. We did not find any strong correlation between BCVA and the thickness of the retinal layers. Conclusion. The thickness of the RPE layer is an OCT biomarker able to predict the functioning of the outer BRB. Eyes with PDR-DMO exhibited decreased thickness of the RPE layer in almost all quadrants, highlighting the degenerative changes occurring in a hypoxic environment. The thickness of a specific layer could not be identified as a biomarker to correlate significantly with BCVA, most likely because we did not analyze specific morphologic features, such as continuity and reflectivity. The analysis of the RPE thickness could clarify the unexplained decrease of BCVA and predict early the evolution of DR.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 11876
Author(s):  
Eimear M. Byrne ◽  
María Llorián-Salvador ◽  
Timothy J. Lyons ◽  
Mei Chen ◽  
Heping Xu

We have previously reported that inhibition of the Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) signaling ameliorates IL-17A-mediated blood-retinal barrier (BRB) dysfunction. Higher levels of IL-17A have been observed in the blood and intraocular fluids in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), in particular those with diabetic macular oedema. This study aimed to understand whether JAK1 inhibition could prevent BRB dysfunction in db/db mice, a model of type 2 diabetes (T2D). An in vitro study showed that high glucose treatment disrupted the junctional distribution of claudin-5 in bEnd3 cells and ZO-1 in ARPE19 cells and that tofacitinib citrate treatment prevented high glucose-mediated tight junction disruption. Albumin leakage, accompanied by increased levels of the phosphorylated form of JAK1 (pJAK1), was observed in three-month-old db/db mice. Treatment of two-and-a-half-month-old db/db mice with tofacitinib citrate for two weeks significantly reduced retinal albumin leakage and reduced pJAK1 expression. pJAK1 expression was also detected in human DR retina. Our results suggest that JAK1 inhibition can ameliorate BRB dysfunction in T2D, and JAK1 inhibitors such as tofacitinib citrate may be re-purposed for the management of diabetic macular oedema.


2020 ◽  
pp. 112067212092727
Author(s):  
Marko Lukic ◽  
Gwyn Williams ◽  
Zaid Shalchi ◽  
Praveen J Patel ◽  
Philip G Hykin ◽  
...  

Purpose To assess visual and optical coherence tomography–derived anatomical outcomes of treatment with intravitreal aflibercept (Eylea®) for diabetic macular oedema in patients switched from intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®). Design Retrospective, cohort study. Participants Ninety eyes (of 67 patients) receiving intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy were included. Methods This is a retrospective, real-life, cohort study. Each patient had visual acuity measurements and optical coherence tomography scans performed at baseline and 12 months after the first injection of aflibercept was given. Main Outcome Measures We measured visual acuities in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters, central foveal thickness and macular volume at baseline and at 12 months after the first aflibercept injection was given. Results Ninety switched eyes were included in this study. The mean (standard deviation) visual acuity was 63 (15.78) Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters. At baseline, the mean (standard deviation) central foveal thickness was 417.7 (158.4) μm and the mean macular volume was 9.96 (2.44) mm3. Mean change in visual acuity was +4 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters (p = 0.0053). The mean change in macular volume was −1.53 mm 3 in SW group (p = 0.21), while the change in central foveal thickness was −136.8 μm (p = 0.69). Conclusion There was a significant improvement in visual acuity and in anatomical outcomes in the switched group at 12 months after commencing treatment with aflibercept for diabetic macular oedema.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1683
Author(s):  
Milagros Mateos-Olivares ◽  
Luis García-Onrubia ◽  
Fco. Javier Valentín-Bravo ◽  
Rogelio González-Sarmiento ◽  
Maribel Lopez-Galvez ◽  
...  

Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) is one of the leading causes of vision loss associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR). New insights in managing this condition have changed the paradigm in its treatment, with intravitreal injections of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) having become the standard therapy for DMO worldwide. However, there is no single standard therapy for all patients DMO refractory to anti-VEGF treatment; thus, further investigation is still needed. The key obstacles in developing suitable therapeutics for refractory DMO lie in its complex pathophysiology; therefore, there is an opportunity for further improvements in the progress and applications of new drugs. Previous studies have indicated that Rho-associated kinase (Rho-kinase/ROCK) is an essential molecule in the pathogenesis of DMO. This is why the Rho/ROCK signalling pathway has been proposed as a possible target for new treatments. The present review focuses on the recent progress on the possible role of ROCK and its therapeutic potential in DMO. A systematic literature search was performed, covering the years 1991 to 2021, using the following keywords: “rho-Associated Kinas-es”, “Diabetic Retinopathy”, “Macular Edema”, “Ripasudil”, “Fasudil” and “Netarsudil”. Better insight into the pathological role of Rho-kinase/ROCK may lead to the development of new strategies for refractory DMO treatment and prevention.


2018 ◽  
Vol 103 (9) ◽  
pp. 1327-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon K H Szeto ◽  
Raymond Wong ◽  
Jerry Lok ◽  
Fangyao Tang ◽  
Zihan Sun ◽  
...  

AimsTo evaluate the performance of ultrawide field scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (UWF-SLO) for assessing diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular oedema (DME) in a Chinese population, compared with clinical examination.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study. A series of 322 eyes from 164 patients with DM were included. Each patient underwent both dilated fundal examination with DR and DME grading by retina specialist and non-mydriatic 200° UWF-SLO (Daytona, Optos, Dunfermline, UK). The severity of DR and DME from UWF-SLO images was further graded by ophthalmologists, according to both international clinical DR and DME disease severity scales and the standard 7-field Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) scale. Any DR, DME and vision-threatening DR (VTDR) were treated as endpoints for this study.Results23 out of 322 images (7.14%), including all four cases with proliferative DR on clinical examinations, were determined as ungradable. When the international scale was used for grading UWF-SLO images, the sensitivity of any DR, DME and VTDR was 67.7%, 67.4% and 72.6%, respectively; the specificity of any DR, DME and VTDR was 97.8%, 97.3% and 97.8%, respectively. The agreement with clinical grading in picking up any DR, DME and VTDR was substantial, with κ-values of 0.634, 0.694 and 0.707, respectively. The performance of UWF-SLO was shown to be lower when ETDRS scale was used for grading the images.ConclusionThe performance of non-mydriatic UWF-SLO is comparable in identifying DR with that of clinical examination in a Chinese cohort. However, whether UWF-SLO can be considered as tool for screening DR is still undetermined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (12) ◽  
pp. 1684-1690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Sacconi ◽  
Eleonora Corbelli ◽  
Adriano Carnevali ◽  
Stefano Mercuri ◽  
Alessandro Rabiolo ◽  
...  

AimsTo describe optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) abnormalities of patients with pseudophakic cystoid macular oedema (PCMO) before and after pharmacological resolution, compared with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and normal eyes.MethodsIn this retrospective, observational study, 44 eyes (30 patients) were included: 15 eyes (15 patients) affected by PCMO; 14 healthy fellow eyes used as negative control group; 15 eyes (15 age-matched and sex-matched patients) with DMO used as positive control group. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination at baseline, including OCT-A scans of the macula through AngioPlex CIRRUS-5000 (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, USA). Patients with PCMO and DMO were re-evaluated after the pharmacological resolution of cystoid macular oedema (CMO).ResultsDisruption of parafoveal capillary arcade and cystoid spaces in deep capillary plexus (DCP) were frequent in patients with PCMO and DMO (73% and 100%, 87% and 100%). Capillary abnormalities and non-perfusion greyish areas in DCP were more frequent in DMO (P<0.001 and P=0.014). Patients with PCMO showed a larger foveal avascular zone area in DCP at baseline (P<0.001), which significantly reduced after treatment (P=0.001). Vessel density of full-thickness retina and DCP was reduced in patients with PCMO (P=0.022 and P=0.001), and no changes were observed after treatment. Interestingly, DCP appeared less represented in patients with DMO than PCMO subjects (P=0.001).ConclusionsPatients with PCMO have an impairment of mainly DCP, partially reversible after treatment. Furthermore, we disclosed that different alterations of the retinal vasculature characterise CMO derived from two different diseases, namely PCMO and DMO, and this could be due to their distinct pathophysiology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 1-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Broadgate ◽  
Christine Kiire ◽  
Stephanie Halford ◽  
Victor Chong

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