New treatment for diabetes-related blindness could be in sight
28 November, 2018 
Pictured: Lead author and Centenary Institute researcher, Dr Ka Ka Ting using Centenary’s state-of-the-art confocal microscope.
Scientists at the Centenary Institute have developed a novel drug which could potentially be used to effectively treat patients with diabetic retinopathy; the main cause of blindness from diabetes.
The key process involved in diabetic retinopathy pathology is the breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), which is normally impermeable. Its integrity relies on how well capillary endothelial cells are bound together by tight junctions. If the junctions are loose or damaged, the blood vessels can leak.
In collaboration with researchers in Denmark, scientists at the Centenary Institute in Sydney have demonstrated in mouse models, how a novel drug, CD5-2, can mend the damaged blood retinal barrier and reduce vascular leakage.
“With limited treatment options currently available, it is critical we develop alternative strategies for the treatment of this outcome of diabetes,” says lead author Dr Ka Ka Ting from the Centenary Institute.
