Using a mouse model, researchers have identified a potential treatment candidate for early diabetic retinopathy which has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main vascular complications of type 2 diabetes and the most common cause of visual deterioration in adults. Published in The American Journal of Pathology, the team reports on the efficacy of a possible treatment candidate that showed anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects on the retina and optic nerve head in early type 2 diabetic retinopathy using a diabetic mouse model. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The cause is usually attributed to high blood sugar, but several studies have shown that inflammation is also an important factor in the progression of the disorder. Investigators analysed and compared the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) lixisenatide in the retina and the optic nerve head with those of insulin in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. "Thus, for better visual prognosis, we need to focus on the treatment of the retina in early type 2 diabetes before the clinical onset of diabetic retinopathy," Dr. Choi added.