Department of Optometry and Visual Science, School of Community and Health Sciences, City University, London, UK.
Eye (Lond). 2010 Jul;24(7):1149-55. doi: 10.1038/eye.2009.328. Epub 2010 Feb 5.
This study was designed to determine whether a new form of treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) was acceptable to patients and whether reduction in the maximal activity of rods in diabetes could affect the progress of DR.
In 12 patients, trans-lid retinal illumination of one eye was employed during sleep to prevent the depolarisation of rods and thus reduce their metabolic activity.
A headband was used to place a source of chemical light over one eye, with its fellow as a control.
Colour contrast thresholds were measured before and after a period of treatment in treated eyes, and the changes were compared to those in untreated fellow eyes, and areas of 'dark retinal anomalies' (microaneurysms, dot haemorrhages) were measured at the same time points.
Patients found this intervention to be acceptable, and no adverse effects were noted. In the majority of cases, and for each outcome measure, the treated eyes improved relative to their fellows. The intervention significantly reduced the tritan thresholds in treated eyes relative to their fellows (P=0.03), and the area of dark retinal anomalies decreased in treated eyes and increased in untreated eyes, with a similar probability.
The study showed that this intervention is safe. Although the study was not powered to study efficacy, the results are promising and consistent with other reports that indicate the retina in DR is suffering from hypoxia; however, further trials should be undertaken.
本研究旨在确定一种新的糖尿病性视网膜病变（DR）治疗方法是否被患者接受，以及减少糖尿病中视杆细胞的最大活性是否会影响 DR 的进展。
在 12 名患者中，在睡眠期间对一只眼进行经眼睑视网膜照明，以防止视杆细胞去极化，从而降低其代谢活性。
使用头带将化学光源置于一只眼上方，以另一只眼作为对照。
在治疗前后测量彩色对比阈值，并将变化与未治疗的对侧眼进行比较，同时测量“暗视网膜异常”（微动脉瘤、点状出血）的区域。
患者发现这种干预是可以接受的，没有不良反应。在大多数情况下，对于每种结果测量，治疗眼相对于对侧眼都有所改善。该干预措施显著降低了治疗眼的三原色阈值（P=0.03），并且治疗眼的暗视网膜异常区域减少，而未治疗眼的暗视网膜异常区域增加，这两种情况的可能性相似。
该研究表明这种干预是安全的。尽管该研究没有足够的效力来研究疗效，但结果是有希望的，与其他表明 DR 视网膜缺氧的报告一致；然而，应进行进一步的试验。
