Diabetic Retinopathy and the Role of VEGF

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population. It works by disrupting the neural and vascular components in the retina and leads to loss of neural interaction/function, vascular permeability, and angiogenesis. It can be classified into two general stages: non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). DR can also lead to vascular leakage and cause diabetic macular edema (DME), the most common cause of vision loss in DR (Duh, Sun et al. 2017). There are currently a wide range of therapies, but they are limited in their efficacy and side effects. None of these therapies are as effective as early identification of the disease. Therefore, new studies are being done that focus on this aspect of DR prevention. As of now, the most promising therapy is anti-VEGF intravitreal injections. These are shown to prevent irreversible vision loss in the population of diabetics affected with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Due to the increasing number of individuals diagnosed with diabetes worldwide, it can be predicted that DR will continue to be a leading cause of vision loss and therefore there is a significant need for new developments in the field. This literature review aims to consolidate the current knowledge on diabetic retinopathy and delve into the role of VEGF in the pathogenesis and treatment of the disease