DOI: 10.2337/dc07-zb03 © 2007 by the American Diabetes Association
Diabetic Retinopathy and Diabetic NeuropathyZachary T. Bloomgarden, MD, is a practicing endocrinologist in New York, New York, and is affiliated with the Division of Endocrinology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
Abbreviations: AGE, advanced glycation end product ARIC, Atherosclerosis Risk In Community CVD, cardiovascular disease ICAM, intracellular adhesion molecule IGF, insulin-like growth factor NF Perspectives on the News commentaries are now part of a new, free monthly CME activity. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, is designating this activity for 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits. If you wish to participate, review this article and visit www.diabetes.procampus.net to complete a posttest and receive a certificate. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. This is the sixth in a series of articles on presentations at the American Diabetes Associations 66th Scientific Sessions, Washington, DC, 913 June 2006, reviewing aspects of diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy and lower extremity vascular disease. Maria Grant (Gainesville, FL) discussed the treatment of diabetic retinopathy with insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 antagonists, reviewing a number of lines of evidence. There is evidence of hypersecretion of growth hormone in diabetes. Furthermore, diabetic retinopathy has been seen following administration of growth hormone to individuals without diabetes (1); there is evidence of reduction in diabetic retinopathy in growth hormonedeficient individuals (2), and pituitary ablation has been shown to have a benefit in reducing diabetic retinopathy progression (3). A number of studies have addressed the potential benefit of somatostatin and its analogs in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (4). IGF-1 causes a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinasemediated increase in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression by retinal pigment epithelial cells leading to effects on retinal endothelial cells. Somatostatin reduces circulating IGF-1, as well as acting directly in the retina to reduce VEGF production and to decrease retinal neovascularization, with three of the five somatostatin receptor subtypes having been identified in the retina. Octreotide is an eightamino acid synthetic peptide acting at somatostatin receptors. In a 15-month study of the effect of administration of octreotide to diabetic individuals with severe nonproliferative (NPDR) or early proliferative (PDR) diabetic retinopathy, 11 patients receiving treatment were compared with 12 control subjects, with 5 vs. 40% requiring panretinal photocoagulation over 15 months (5). In a similar study, among nine patients with persistent high-risk PDR after panretinal photocoagulation treated with 100 mcg octreotide three times daily for 36 months, there was one small vitreous hemorrhage, while nine control subjects experienced five dense hemorrhages requiring surgery, with evidence that octreotide led to preserved visual acuity (6).
The long-acting acetate of octreotide is an injectable depot formulation maintaining circulating levels for 1 month, used clinically in treatment of acromegaly at typical doses of 1020 mg monthly. There is case-report evidence of a clinical benefit in diabetic retinopathy (7). Grant reviewed two phase III randomized controlled clinical trials, in individuals with moderate and severe NPDR not requiring laser therapy treated with 30 mg octreotide monthly: Study 804 of 313 patients carried out in the U.S., Brazil, and Canada comparing 30 mg versus placebo and Study 802 of 585 patients carried out in Europe comparing 30 mg, 20 mg, and placebo. The majority of enrolled individuals had type 2 diabetes, most had microalbuminuria, and the mean A1C was 88.4%. In Study 804, there was a delay in the time to progression and a 40% reduction in the likelihood of developing PDR but no difference in macular edema. Serum IGF-1 levels were suppressed by Paul Dodson (Birmingham, U.K.) discussed the complex relationship between dyslipidemia and diabetic retinopathy and the question of whether lipid-lowering treatment improves diabetic retinopathy. Combined hyperlipidemia is associated with peripheral ischemia, cotton wool spots, and exudates. Familial hypercholesterolemia is not directly associated with retinopathy, although it is a risk factor for retinal vein and arterial occlusion, with individuals having high degrees of carotid stenosis sometimes developing an ocular ischemic syndrome. The combination of both hyperlipidemia and diabetes is associated with retinal abnormality. In the Atherosclerosis Risk In Community (ARIC) Study, carotid intima-media thickness was associated with diabetic retinopathy. There is a significant increase in LDL cholesterol with worsening grades of retinopathy (8). As cholesterol quartile increases, there is increased risk of maculopathy and proliferative retinopathy. In the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, the highest quintile of LDL cholesterol showed a doubling in likelihood of clinically significant macular edema and hard exudates (9). LDL, particularly if glycated or oxidized, may be associated with decreased cell growth, potentially mediating some aspects of diabetic retinopathy. An association has been reported between statin use and lower risk of development of vitreous hemorrhage (10), and several small studies have suggested that pravastatin (11) and atorvastatin (12) improve some aspects of diabetic retinopathy. Statins may lower intraocular pressure, and some studies have shown that fibrates decrease retinal exudates. Results of two large clinical trials are of interest. In CARDS (Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study), 2,838 individuals with diabetes with 30% diabetic retinopathy prevalence at baseline were randomized to atorvastatin versus placebo, with a nonsignificant trend to decrease in requirement for laser treatment in 17.9 vs. 20.5% at a mean 3.9-year follow-up (13). In the FIELD (Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes) Study, 9,795 participants aged 5075 years with type 2 diabetes not taking statin therapy were randomized to placebo versus fenofibrate. At baseline, 8% had diabetic retinopathy; at 5 years of follow-up, 253 control subjects (5.2%) versus 178 (3.6%) individuals allocated fenofibrate needed one or more laser treatments for retinopathy, a highly significant reduction, concordant with the reduction in albuminuria reported in the study (14). Thus, there is intriguing evidence of a benefit of lipid-lowering therapies on diabetic retinopathy, suggesting an additional rationale to the well-established benefit in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. Gabriella Tikellis (Melbourne, Australia) discussed the concept of the eye as a risk marker for CVD. The association of retinal microvascular abnormality was first reported more than a century ago (15), with studies in the 1930s showing that the severity of retinal microvascular abnormality was predictive of 3-year mortality in individuals with hypertension (16). Tikellis described the retinal circulation as a "window to the systemic circulation," with retinal vessels sharing many characteristics with those of other organs. Focal or localized retinal vascular findings may include focal arteriolar narrowing, arteriovenous nicking, arteriolar wall thickening, and diabetic retinopathylike lesions, including hemorrhages, microaneurisms, and cotton-wool spots, while macular edema may be regarded as a sign of generalized abnormality of vascular permeability. Fundoscopic exam is, however, imprecise (17), and easily detectable but more severe changes such as hemorrhages are infrequent in individuals with hypertension, leading to the use of systematic retinal vascular grading performed by ophthalmologists, using subjective assessment of retinal photographs, or, more recently, the development of computer techniques to allow rapid and objective assessment of retinal vascular characteristics, such as the degree of arteriolar branching, bifurcation angles, and venous tortuosity. Large datasets from population-based studies including the ARIC Study, the Beaver Dam Eye Study, the Blue Mountains Eye Study, the Wisconsin Epidemiological Study of diabetic retinopathy, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Rotterdam Study have shown up to a 14% prevalence of retinal abnormality, having strong association with blood pressure (18), with a linear relationship between blood pressure and the degree of retinal arteriolar narrowing (19). There is also an association of smaller arteriolar-venous ratio with increased likelihood of diabetes (20) and of retinal vessel caliber to the likelihood of progression of diabetic retinopathy (21). More specific abnormalities, such as cotton wool spots, were associated with a ninefold greater increase in stroke in the ARIC Study (22). Further analysis of this study showed that risk of heart failure was markedly increased in individuals with retinal abnormality, with the presence of hypertension not adding further risk in multivariate analysis of individuals with diabetic retinopathy (23). Finally, in the Beaver Dam Study, retinal microvascular abnormality was associated with coronary mortality (24). Tikellis concluded that there is strong and consistent correlation of blood pressure with a number of retinal findings and some evidence of association with CVD; thus, the retinal exam, particularly when making use of detailed assessment of retinal photographs, may add independent information about risk and prognosis.
A number of research presentations at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions addressed aspects of diabetic retinopathy. Zhang et al. (abstract 992) analyzed the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) 19992002, finding visual acuity better than 20/200 but <20/40 among 5% of individuals with and 2.3% of those without diabetes, while 1.3 and 0.6%, respectively, were blind (visual acuity
Several studies addressed potential mechanisms of diabetic retinopathy. Al-Shabrawey et al. (abstract 15-LB) studied streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice, finding increased albumin extravasation from retinal vessels, suggesting abnormality of the blood-retinal barrier and increased retinal vascular leukocyte adhesion and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 expression, in conjunction with increased retinal reactive oxygen species production determined in sections using dichlorofluroscein imaging. Diabetic mice either with deletion of the NAD(P)H oxidase subunit gp91 phox gene or treated with the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor; apocynin, however, had normal reactive oxygen species formation, ICAM-1 expression, leukostasis, and blood-retinal barrier. The retrovirus-associated DNA sequence (ras) originally isolated from Harvey murine sarcoma viruses (H-ras) encodes phosphohydrolase G-proteins that hydrolyze GTP to GDP, acting to regulate aspects of cellular growth and differentiation. Kowluru et al. (abstract 227) reported that H-ras expression increases after exposure of bovine retinal endothelial cells to high glucose and that overexpression of H-ras increases the effect of glucose exposure on nitric oxide, nuclear factor-
Several studies in animal models suggest potential new therapies for diabetic retinopathy. Chen et al. (abstract 16-LB) studied the effect of erythropoietin on oxygen-induced retinal vascular degeneration in a neonatal mouse model, showing that hyperoxia suppressed retinal erythropoietin mRNA more than fivefold, with a rebound >10-fold increase after subsequent room air exposure, with systemic erythropoietin administration before and during hyperoxia reducing retinal vaso-obliteration and subsequent neovascularization, although administration of erythropoietin after oxygen exposure failed to have a protective effect. Mogami et al. (abstract 226) studied retinal abnormality in the spontaneously diabetic Torii (SDT) rat model of type 2 diabetes, finding that the angiotensin II receptor blocker candesartan reduced cataract formation and vascular permeability assessed by retinal fluorescein angiography, with decreased lens and vitreous levels of the advanced glycation end product (AGE) pentosidine and decreased retinal VEGF mRNA expression, all in a dose-dependent manner, with the authors speculating the AGE-reducing effect to be primary. Lee et al. (abstract 504) reported that magnolol, a polyphenolic compound derived from the bark of Houpu magnolia used in Chinese traditional medicine, decreases AGE formation and lens aldose reductase activity, with reduced lens opacity and reduced sciatic nerve sorbitol in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Gubitosi-Klug and Kern (abstract 225) studied STZ-induced diabetes in animals with and without expression of 5-lipoxygenase, an enzyme essential to synthesis of eicosanoids, finding decreased numbers of acellular retinal capillaries and reduced retinal adhesion of leukocytes, suggesting a potential proinflammatory target for prevention of diabetic retinopathy. Small interfering antisense RNA sequences serve as guides for the cleavage of homologous mRNA in the RNA-induced silencing complex. Chen et al. (abstract 818) found that diabetes increased retinal levels of the transcriptional coactivator p300, as well as of fibronectin and NF
There has been interest in the use of inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC)-ß in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Aiello et al. (abstract 230) analyzed the combined data from two 3-year randomized controlled trials (26,27) comparing 401 individuals receiving placebo and 412 treated with the PKC-ß inhibitor ruboxistaurin, 32 mg daily, in individuals with moderate to very severe NPDR. Moderate visual loss, defined as loss of Diabetic neuropathy
Solomon Tesfaye (Sheffield, U.K.) discussed pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of individuals with painful diabetic neuropathy (30). Diabetic periperal neuropathy starts in the toes and gradually affects more proximal areas, causing pain in The clinical syndrome is characterized by burning discomfort with nocturnal exacerbation, as well as by autonomic manifestations and insensitivity leading to foot ulceration and amputation. Intervention can either be symptomatic or pathogenic to alter the course of neuropathy, the latter exemplified by efforts to achieve euglycemia. A number of agents have been used for analgesia. The tricyclic antidepressants are effective, although Tesfaye remarked that he finds these agents to be associated with high levels of side effects, with other relatively established approaches including anticonvulsants, particularly carbemazepine and gabapentin, topical lidocaine, oral mexiletine, and topical isosorbide and capsaicin. Tesfaye referred to Viniks review, summarizing a variety of agents used in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy, reviewing anticonvulsants for which benefit has been reported, including carbemazepine, felbamate, gabapentin, lamotrigine, phenytoin, topiramate, and valproate (32). Newer approaches include the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors duloxetine and venlafaxine. Pain is transmitted by A and C fibers. Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors increase synaptic availability of serotonin and norepinephine, with two large studies having been carried out with duloxetine. The first compared placebo with 20, 60, and 120 mg daily doses in 457 individuals with painful diabetic neuropathy, showing significant pain relief with the higher doses and evidence of benefit at the lowest dose as well beginning at 1 week and maintained over the 12 weeks of study (33). The second study compared 120 mg once daily with 60 mg twice daily for 6 months in 449 patients, showing maintenance of pain relief through 28 weeks (34). A number of side effects were reported, including nausea, somnolence, dizziness, constipation, dry mouth, and reduced appetite, with 36 and 37% of the respective groups not completing the second study and 20 and 27% discontinuing because of side effects. Venlafaxine was studied in 75, 150, and 225 mg extended release daily doses, the latter two leading to significant improvement in pain score, although side effects included somnolence, nausea, and myalgia, and 7 of the 244 treated patients developed significant electrocardiographic abnormality (35). A study comparing venlafaxine with the tricyclic imipramine showed similar improvement in neuropathic pain (36). Several other agents are being studied. Pregabalin reduces neural calcium influx, decreasing neurotransmitter release, and has been studied in four randomized controlled trials including 146724 individuals with painful diabetic neuropathy, showing pain relief within 1 week and persisting through the 6- to 12-week studies (3740). A number of prominent side effects were observed, with dose-related somnolence, ataxia, and confusion, as well as peripheral edema and constipation reported. Topiramate leads to significant benefits at 8 and 12 weeks at 400-mg daily dosages but, again, with high frequency of side effects, including diarrhea, loss of appetite (which may be beneficial, as the agent is associated with weight loss), and somnolence, leading to high discontinuation rates (41). An important approach is the use of combination treatments; a recent trial showed that use of morphine and gabapentin together is superior to either alone in individuals with neuropathic pain, with gabapentin similar to placebo, although combination treatment was associated with an increased frequency of side effects, including constipation, dry mouth, and sedation (42). For many patients, Tesfaye suggested, "the remedy is worse than the disease," so that we need to better understand the pathogenesis of pain in neuropathy and distinguish peripheral from central pain, with a potentially important contributory factor being spinal cord abnormality (43), which his group has found to occur early in the development of diabetic neuropathy (44). Magnetic resonance imagining sprectroscopy shows abnormality of the thalamus, which acts as a gateway for pain, to occur in individuals with painful neuropathy. There is also evidence of greater degrees of neuronal function impairment in painless than in painful neuropathy, with nerve blood flow impaired to a greater extent and oxygen saturation lower in individuals with painless than in those with painful neuropathy (45). Acute painful neuropathy occurring in the setting of normalization of glycemia may be associated with proliferative retinopathy and with new vessel formation on the surface of the nerve, further suggesting important functional differences between painful and painless neuropathy. Tesfaye retuned to the theme of pathogenic treatment for neuropathy, suggesting that studies with the PKC-ß inhibitor ruboxistaurin and with aldose reductase inhibitors suggest that it may become possible to develop treatment approaches that successfully address the metabolic dysfunction of diabetes. References
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