Abstract
Presentation Description :
Diabetic Retinopathy is a common cause of vision loss in working-age adults. Ischemia is implicated in diabetic retinopathy, and can lead to hypoxia-induced neural dysfunction and cell loss. The presence of retinal tissue hypoxia is supported by upregulation of VEGF, causing the development of vision-threatening macular edema and proliferative retinopathy. It is of interest to determine whether and at what stage of retinopathy retinal tissue becomes hypoxic. Due to the current unavailability of a direct method for assessment of retinal tissue oxygen content in humans, most studies have evaluated biomarkers of retinal oxygenation at stages of diabetic retinopathy. In parallel, retinal tissue oxygenation has been directly and indirectly investigated in animal models of diabetes and ischemia. Findings in human diabetic retinopathy and animal models will be presented.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.