Photoreceptor changes in diabetes: new findings and lecture at FLORetina

Published in Biomedicines, a clinical study at IRCCS Fondazione G.B. Bietti investigates retinal function and structure at the cellular level in diabetes.

In patients with mild diabetic retinopathy (DR), clinicians examined the photoreceptor mosaic using rtx1 adaptive optics imaging (AO) and evaluated visual function with multifocal ERG over 4 years.

“These findings suggest a direct structure–function relationship at almost superimposable retinal locations that remains evident as the disease progresses, leading to progressive photoreceptor rearrangement and localized retinal dysfunction, which may not be apparent in a global functional evaluation.”

Based on their results, the clinical research team hypothesizes a model for the evolution of DR in diabetes type 1, encompassing changes in retinal structure, function, and metabolic factors.

“This in vivo investigation could pave the way for a better pathogenic understanding of the mechanisms leading to irreversible photoreceptor damage and possibly develop future strategies for preserving retinal function and arresting the advancement of DR.”

 

If you attend the FLORetina/ICOOR 2024 conference, you can learn more about the clinical insights enabled by the rtx1 AO camera in diabetes. Prof. Mariacristina Parravano will present results from longitudinal follow-up of early diabetic retinopathy patients in her lecture:

Adaptive Optics and Retinal Function in Diabetic Retinopathy

Mariacristina Parravano, IRCCS-Fondazione Bietti

Thurs. Dec. 5 , at 1pm, Santa Croce Room

 

Open access article: Parravano, M., Fragiotta, S., Costanzo, E., Picconi, F., Giorno, P., De Geronimo, D., Giannini, D., Varano, M., Parisi, V., & Ziccardi, L. (2024). Metabolic, Microvascular, and Structural Predictors of Long-Term Functional Changes Evaluated by Multifocal Electroretinogram in Type 1 Diabetes. Biomedicines, 12(11), 2614. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12112614