Promising Results Showed by a New Strategy for Treating Retinal Disease by Scripps Research

The advancement of countries and the increase of Per Capita income decreases the pervasiveness of blindness. The causes of blindness also change. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) mentioned in their article that retinal diseases are already the most common cause of juvenile blindness globally. They added that these in some cases, these children inherit their retinal conditions, which at present can be medicated. NCBI mentioned in their article that 10 million Americans are undergoing Cataract operations per year. It is also known that aging is a factor for blindness.

Scientists from Scripps Research have uncovered a potential new strategy for treating eye diseases that affect millions of people on the planet, usually resulting in blindness. According to Rebecca Berlow, Ph.D., and co-senior author of the study said that there is a need for another way to treat patients who do not respond well to anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (anti-VEGF) medication.

In an article from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, VEGF was a protein produced by the cells in the body that produces new blood vessels when the body needs them. They also added that when the body produces too much VEGF, blood vessels can grow in the eyes and damage them, harming the vision. The anti-VEGF medication blocks the protein slowing the growth of blood vessels in the eye, which slows down vision loss and sometimes improves vision.

(Photo: Rudy and Peter Skitterians)

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New Approach vs. Traditional VEGF Treatment

According to Scripps Research's article, A new approach in treating the condition which does not target VEGF directly is highly effective in mice. It has more benefits than traditional VEGF-blocking treatment. Scripps Research also said that vision-impairing in neovascularization in the retina signifies the body's faulty attempt in restoring blood supply that has been weakened by conditions such as high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and aging. They also emphasized that when the blood vessels in the retina narrow, oxygen supply decline causes hypoxia, which triggers the VEGF to produce more blood vessels (hypoxic response) in the eye, which is a beneficial response. However, the overgrowth of these vessels may lead to blindness.

In a paper published in 2017, Berlow and the other authors of the study stated that a protein naturally lessens the hypoxic response and might be the basis for the alternative treatment strategy. Researchers said that protein HIF-1α responsible for detecting hypoxia produces protein CITED2 functions as the regulator that blocks HIF-1α's ability to switch on hypoxic response.

Protein CITED2

Berlow and the rest of the team injected protein CITED2 in a mouse model with retinal hypoxia, and the results showed a significantly reduced neovascularization. They emphasized that upon injecting the protein, vaso-obliteration occurred. Meaning, CITED2 preserved or allowed the healthy capillaries that would have been destroyed.

According to the co-author of the study and the Scripps Research Department of Molecular Medicine Professor, Martin Friedlander, MD, Ph.D., most hypoxia-related retinal disorders like

Diabetic retinopathy has a wide capillary loss in the late stages leading to neuronal cell death and vision loss. He added that no current treatment has therapeutic benefits for this aspect of the disorder.

The researchers concluded that CITED2 can combine these benefits and represent a key advance for them. They now hope to further develop the CITED2 treatment and test it in human clinical trials.

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