%0 Journal Article
%T Usefulness of the Vitreous Fluid Analysis in the Translational Research of Diabetic Retinopathy
%A Olga Sim¨®-Servat
%A Cristina Hern¨˘ndez
%A Rafael Sim¨®
%J Mediators of Inflammation
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/872978
%X Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major cause of acquired blindness in working-age adults. Current treatments for DR (laser photocoagulation, intravitreal corticosteroids, intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, and vitreo-retinal surgery) are applicable only at advanced stages of the disease and are associated with significant adverse effects. Therefore, new pharmacological treatments for the early stages of the disease are needed. Vitreous fluid obtained from diabetic patients undergoing vitreoretinal surgery is currently used to explore the events that are taking place in the retina for clinical research. However, several confounding factors such as vitreous haemorrhage and concentration of vitreous proteins should be considered in the analysis of the results. In this paper we will focus on the vitreous fluid as a tool for exploring the mediators of DR and in particular the molecules related to inflammatory pathways. In addition, their role in the pathogenesis of DR will be discussed. The usefulness of new technologies such as flow cytometry and proteomics in identifying new candidates involved in the inflammatory process that occurs in DR will be overviewed. Finally, a more personalized treatment based on vitreous fluid analysis aiming to reduce the burden associated with DR is suggested. 1. Introduction Diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains the leading cause of blindness and vision loss among adults aged under 40 years in the developed world. Population-based studies suggest that about one-third of the diabetic population have signs of DR and approximately one-tenth have vision-threatening stages of retinopathy such as diabetic macular edema (DME) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) [1¨C3]. DR is associated with considerable costs related to laser coagulation therapy, vitrectomy in severe cases, and eventually costs for social support when useful vision has deteriorated completely [4]. In this regard, it has been reported that the consumption of health care resources is almost double in type 2 diabetic patients with microvascular complications than in patients without it [5]. Notably, average healthcare costs increase considerably with the severity of DR, which suggests that preventing the progression of DR may alleviate the economic burden related to this complication of diabetes [6]. Current treatments for DR (laser photocoagulation, intravitreal corticosteroids, intravitreal anti-VEGF agents, and vitreo-retinal surgery) are applicable only at advanced stages of the disease and are associated with significant adverse
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2012/872978/