Diabetic Retinopathy: The Asia Pacific Clinical Trial Landscape

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age populations, and one of the main complications of Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Clinical signs of vascular abnormalities in the retina are used to diagnose DR. DR can be classified clinically into two stages: proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) (PDR). NPDR, which is the early stage of DR show increased vascular permeability and capillary occlusion in the retinal vasculature, and patients in this stage are asymptomatic. PDR, an advanced stage of DR is characterized by neovascularization and the patients may experience severe vision impairment during this stage. Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most common cause of vision loss in DR patients. The blood-retinal barrier (BRB) breaking down causes the blood to accumulate in the macula, causing swelling or thickening of the macula, which is a hallmark of DME. It can happen at any stage of DR and result in visual image distortion and a loss of visual acuity. DR is currently being treated with intravitreal medications, laser photocoagulation, and vitreous surgery, all of which aim to manage microvascular complications. (1)