Abstract

RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN OCULAR DRUG DELIVERY FOR DIABETIC RETINOPATHY: A COMPHRENSIVE REVIEW

Sushila Dagadu Chavan*, Yash Mahendra Desai and Deepa Mahendra Desai

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Abstract

Due to changing lifestyles, an increased number of individuals, including children and young adults are developing diabetes. These individuals have a risk of vision loss from diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME). The key risk factors for DR are increased duration of diabetes, poor control of blood sugar level, and blood pressure. There is strong evidence for reducing the occurrence of vision-threatening DR by controlling blood sugar levels and hypertension. There is good evidence from systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials that controlling hyperglycemia and hypertension lowers the incidence of DR. In fact, each 1% reduction in updated mean HbA1c was associated with a decrease in risk of 21%. The vision-threatening DR and 98% of blindness can be prevented by laser treatment and vitreous surgery and the use of nanotechnology in ocular drug delivery systems. This review summarizes what diabetic retinopathy means, and innovative nanostructured technology used to treat diabetic retinopathy. Further, it is interesting to note that Autoimmune rheumatic disease (ARD) related to dry eyes is also associated with some retinal diseases directly or indirectly. Significantly, because of the direct or indirect associations of ARD pertaining to dry eye with some retinal diseases, a comprehensive understanding of dry eye, ARDs, and relative complications is necessary.

Keywords: Hyperglycemia, Diabetic Retinopathy, Ocular drug delivery system, Vitreous surgery, Nanostructured technology.