Abstract
The incidence of diabetes and the pathological conditions associated with chronic hyperglycemia is increasing worldwide. Among them, diabetic retinopathy represents a leading cause of vision loss, causing a significant structural and functional impairment of the retinal and choroidal capillary network. Current therapies include anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory drugs administered through repetitive and invasive intraocular injections, and associated with significant adverse effects. The presence of ocular barriers affects the efficiency of topically administered therapeutics for treating the posterior segment of the eye. In this scenario, nanomedicine could improve current therapies for diabetic retinopathy by providing tools that can decrease the number of injections thanks to their controlled release properties, while some materials showed a natural ability to mitigate pathological neo-angiogenesis. Moreover, specific surface modifications could open new scenarios for the development of topical treatments. This review describes current advances in generating nanomedicine for diabetic retinopathy, focusing on the properties of the different materials tested explicitly for this purpose.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, and the most common expressions of this condition are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes [1]
The particles showed similar loading efficiency, but the 75:25 formulation allowed for a prolonged pioglitazone release, even though the 50:50 formulation resulted more efficient in decreasing vascular endothelial growth factor growth pathway factor (VEGF) levels in the vitreous humor of STZ-induced diabetic rats
DR is a common complication of diabetes, and it will be responsible for vision loss in millions of patients in the coming decades
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, and the most common expressions of this condition are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes [1]. Diabetes-associated conditions affect multiple organs and organ systems, resulting in polyneuropathy [8], angiopathy [9], infections [10], nephropathy [10], dementia [11], cardiovascular complications [12], lower limb amputation [13], and blindness [14]. These phenomena are often irreversible and accompanied by a structural and functional impairment of the tissue microcirculation [15].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
