Cargando…

Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetes-driven retinal neurodegeneration has recently been shown to be involved in the initial phases of diabetic retinopathy, raising the possibility of setting up a preventive strategy based on early retinal neuroprotection. To make this possible, it is crucial to identify a biomarker for early r...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zerbini, Gianpaolo, Maestroni, Silvia, Viganò, Ilaria, Mosca, Andrea, Paleari, Renata, Gabellini, Daniela, Galbiati, Silvia, Rama, Paolo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10454227/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37628852
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612672
_version_ 1785096138707173376
author Zerbini, Gianpaolo
Maestroni, Silvia
Viganò, Ilaria
Mosca, Andrea
Paleari, Renata
Gabellini, Daniela
Galbiati, Silvia
Rama, Paolo
author_facet Zerbini, Gianpaolo
Maestroni, Silvia
Viganò, Ilaria
Mosca, Andrea
Paleari, Renata
Gabellini, Daniela
Galbiati, Silvia
Rama, Paolo
author_sort Zerbini, Gianpaolo
collection PubMed
description Diabetes-driven retinal neurodegeneration has recently been shown to be involved in the initial phases of diabetic retinopathy, raising the possibility of setting up a preventive strategy based on early retinal neuroprotection. To make this possible, it is crucial to identify a biomarker for early retinal neurodegeneration. To this end, in this study, we verified and confirmed that, in the Akita mouse model of diabetes, the thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer/ganglion cell layer (the RNFL/GCL—the layer that contains the retinal ganglion cells) precedes the death of these same cells, suggesting that this dysfunction is a possible biomarker of retinal neurodegeneration. We then confirmed the validity of this assumption by starting a neuroprotective treatment (based on nerve growth factor eye drops) in concert with the first demonstration of RNFL/GCL thinning. In this way, it was possible not only to avoid the loss of retinal ganglion cells but also to prevent the subsequent development of the microvascular stage of diabetic retinopathy. In conclusion, in the case of diabetes, the thinning of the RNFL/GCL appears to be both a valid biomarker and a pharmacological target of diabetic retinopathy; it precedes the development of vascular dysfunctions and represents the ideal starting point for prevention.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10454227
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-104542272023-08-26 Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy Zerbini, Gianpaolo Maestroni, Silvia Viganò, Ilaria Mosca, Andrea Paleari, Renata Gabellini, Daniela Galbiati, Silvia Rama, Paolo Int J Mol Sci Article Diabetes-driven retinal neurodegeneration has recently been shown to be involved in the initial phases of diabetic retinopathy, raising the possibility of setting up a preventive strategy based on early retinal neuroprotection. To make this possible, it is crucial to identify a biomarker for early retinal neurodegeneration. To this end, in this study, we verified and confirmed that, in the Akita mouse model of diabetes, the thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer/ganglion cell layer (the RNFL/GCL—the layer that contains the retinal ganglion cells) precedes the death of these same cells, suggesting that this dysfunction is a possible biomarker of retinal neurodegeneration. We then confirmed the validity of this assumption by starting a neuroprotective treatment (based on nerve growth factor eye drops) in concert with the first demonstration of RNFL/GCL thinning. In this way, it was possible not only to avoid the loss of retinal ganglion cells but also to prevent the subsequent development of the microvascular stage of diabetic retinopathy. In conclusion, in the case of diabetes, the thinning of the RNFL/GCL appears to be both a valid biomarker and a pharmacological target of diabetic retinopathy; it precedes the development of vascular dysfunctions and represents the ideal starting point for prevention. MDPI 2023-08-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10454227/ /pubmed/37628852 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612672 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Zerbini, Gianpaolo
Maestroni, Silvia
Viganò, Ilaria
Mosca, Andrea
Paleari, Renata
Gabellini, Daniela
Galbiati, Silvia
Rama, Paolo
Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title_full Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title_fullStr Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title_full_unstemmed Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title_short Progressive Thinning of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer/Ganglion Cell Layer (RNFL/GCL) as Biomarker and Pharmacological Target of Diabetic Retinopathy
title_sort progressive thinning of retinal nerve fiber layer/ganglion cell layer (rnfl/gcl) as biomarker and pharmacological target of diabetic retinopathy
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10454227/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37628852
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612672
work_keys_str_mv AT zerbinigianpaolo progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT maestronisilvia progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT viganoilaria progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT moscaandrea progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT palearirenata progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT gabellinidaniela progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT galbiatisilvia progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy
AT ramapaolo progressivethinningofretinalnervefiberlayerganglioncelllayerrnflgclasbiomarkerandpharmacologicaltargetofdiabeticretinopathy