Eye injections may prevent vision loss, complications for diabetic retinopathy

March 30 (UPI) -- A drug commonly used to treat certain forms of diabetic retinopathy may prevent vision-threatening complications associated with the disease, a study published Tuesday by JAMA Ophthalmology found.

Over a two-year period, just 16% of diabetic retinopathy patients who received injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, or anti-VEGF, experienced eye damage with vision loss or worsening symptoms, the data showed.

These complications developed in about 44% of patients who received a placebo -- a drug with no clinical benefit -- the researchers said.

"It is possible that preventing [these complications] may reduce long-term vision loss," study co-author Adam Glassman told UPI in an email.

"It is also possible that treating the eyes immediately once diabetic macular edema or diabetic retinopathy develop will prevent the eye from losing vision," said Glassman, interim executive director of the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa.

About 35 million people in the United States, or more than 10% of the population, have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Roughly 30% of those with diabetes develop eye-related complications such as diabetic retinopathy, in which the blood vessels in the retina essentially bleed into the eye, the National Eye Institute estimates.

Retinopathy can, in turn, cause macular edema, which occurs when the blood vessels in the eye leak fluid into the macula causing it to swell.

The retina helps the eye process light, while the macula plays a key role in central vision, and damage to these two areas caused by diabetes threatens the eyesight of about 5% of those with the disease, the institute says.

For this study, Glassman and his colleagues treated 200 diabetic retinopathy patients with the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drug aflibercept, which is marketed under the brand name Eylea, or a placebo for two years.

Aflibercept, like other drugs in the same class, is injected into the surface of the eye every four months.

After two years of treatment, the risk for worsening diabetic retinopathy among patients treated with aflibercept was just under 14%, compared to 33% of those who received the sham drug, the data showed.

Similarly, the risk for macular edema with vision loss was 4% in patients treated with aflibercept versus 14% for those given the sham treatment, the researchers said.

The study is ongoing, and the researchers will be providing data on all patients in the study following four years of treatment to see if the results are similar, according to Glassman.

"Given the results of this study, some clinicians may decide to initiate preventative aflibercept treatment for eyes with [some forms of] severe diabetic retinopathy, based on the reduction in anatomic complications," he said.

However, "some clinicians may choose to wait until disease worsens before initiating treatment," he added.