Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017 Jun;21(11):2769-2783.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus and a major preventable cause of blindness. Strict control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and lipid profiles are the pivotal criteria to reduce the risk of developing DR. Although timely intervention with laser photocoagulation therapy could mitigate the progression of DR, it may not significantly improve visual acuity. Therefore, invasive surgical interventions such as vitrectomy are sometimes the only option to treat or manage advanced stages of DR. However, the risk of intra-ocular infections outweighs the benefits of the surgery. Newer therapies such as intraocular injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody and steroids serve as a viable option for the treatment of DR. However, several clinical studies that assessed the long-term efficacy and safety of this therapy have yielded inconclusive results. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop potent and safe drugs for the effective management of DR. In this review, we discuss various plant-derived small molecules (phytochemicals) that have been investigated for retinal cytoprotective effects in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Furthermore, we highlight the caveats on using phytochemicals for the management of DR.
糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）是糖尿病的一种微血管并发症，也是导致失明的主要可预防原因。严格控制血糖、血压和血脂谱是降低 DR 发病风险的关键标准。虽然及时进行激光光凝治疗可以减缓 DR 的进展，但它可能不会显著提高视力。因此，玻璃体切除术等侵入性手术干预有时是治疗或管理 DR 晚期的唯一选择。然而，眼内感染的风险超过了手术的益处。新型治疗方法，如眼内注射抗血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）抗体和类固醇，为 DR 的治疗提供了可行的选择。然而，几项评估这种治疗长期疗效和安全性的临床研究得出的结果并不一致。因此，迫切需要开发有效的、安全的药物来有效管理 DR。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了在临床前和临床试验中已被研究用于视网膜细胞保护作用的各种植物来源的小分子（植物化学物质）。此外，我们还强调了使用植物化学物质管理 DR 的注意事项。
