By combining data on optometry patient’s eyes with advanced computational methods, Indiana University researchers have created a virtual tissue model of diabetes in the eye. The results, reported in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, show precisely how a small protein that can both damage or grow blood vessels in the eye causes vision loss and…
Pathologic changes of the retina caused by diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working adults. Diabetic retinopathy has no known cure, treatment options are inadequate, and prevention strategies offer limited protection. In the first of its kind, a report in The American Journal of Pathology describes a potential new intraocular treatment based on…
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive retinal degeneration resulting in central visual field loss, ultimately causing debilitating blindness. While many genetic and environmental risk factors are known for AMD, we currently know less about the mechanisms mediating disease progression. The goal of this article is to illustrate cell types impacted in AMD and demonstrate…
Diabetes-related vision loss most often is blamed on blood vessel damage in and around the retina, but new research indicates that much of that vision loss may result from nerve cell injury that occurs long before any blood vessels are damaged. After three months on a high-fat diet, the animals had developed obesity-related glucose intolerance,…
Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. (“Avalanche”) (AAVL) and Annapurna Therapeutics SAS (“Annapurna”), a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Annapurna by Avalanche in exchange for approximately 17.6 million newly issued shares of Avalanche common stock. Upon completion of the proposed…
Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (or AMD) is the most common cause of vision loss in people over age 50, affecting about 10 million Americans. While there’s currently no cure for AMD there are some things you can do if you’re high risk. One option is to talk to your doctor about…
Serum retinol-binding protein (RBP4) is the sole specific transport protein for retinol in the blood, but it is also an adipokine with retinol-independent, pro-inflammatory activity associated with obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Here we show that RBP4-Tg mice develop progressive retinal degeneration, characterized by photoreceptor ribbon synapse deficiency and subsequent bipolar…
RetroSense Therapeutics, LLC, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for the Company’s lead product RST-001 for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetic condition which leads to the progressive degeneration of rod and cone photoreceptors (cells found in…
Tuberculosis experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have closely mimicked how active but untreated cases of the underlying lung infection lead to permanent eye damage and blindness in people.Lead study investigator and Johns Hopkins infectious disease specialist Petros Karakousis, M.D., says the new animal model should hasten development of a badly needed, early diagnostic test…