The present study investigates the amelioration of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by Zingiber zerumbet rhizome ethanol extracts (ZZRext) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-diabetic rats). ZZRext contains high phenolic and flavonoid contents. STZ-diabetic rats were treated orally with ZZRext (200, 300 mg/kg per day) for three months. Blood-retinal barrier (BRB) breakdown and increased vascu...

purpose : to investigate the risk factors and causes for blindness in behcet’s disease (bd). methods : in this preliminary retrospective case series we have investigated 27 bd patients (54 eyes), legally blind (vision 0.1 or less) at least in one eye at the last visit (2006), and compared them with 54 eyes of 27 non-blind patients (control group), matched individually and consequently in terms ...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this brief communication is to alert ophthalmologists that optic neuropathy may herald acute retinal necrosis (ARN). CASE A previously healthy 54-year-old man exhibited optic neuropathy as an initial presentation of ARN, 8 weeks after varicella-zoster dermatitis. OBSERVATIONS Central retinal vascular obstruction developed subsequently in his left eye. Later, the cl...

PURPOSE Vegetable polyphenols (bioflavonoids) have been suggested to represent promising drugs for treating cancer and retinal diseases. We compared the effects of various bioflavonoids (epigallocatechin-3-gallate [EGCG], luteolin, apigenin, myricetin, quercetin, and cyanidin) on the physiological properties and viability of cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS Human...

OBJECTIVE Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats develop vasculopathy as photoreceptors degenerate. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on retinopathy in RCS rats. METHODS Fluorescein angiography was used to monitor retinal vascular changes over time. Changes in retinal glia and vasculature were studied by immunostaining. To study the effects of EPO on retina...

The oral anti-diabetic drug metformin has been found to reduce cardiovascular complications independent of glycemic control in diabetic patients. However, its role in diabetic retinal microvascular complications is not clear. This study is to investigate the effects of metformin on retinal vascular endothelium and its possible mechanisms, regarding two major pathogenic features of diabetic reti...

The BB rat spontaneously develops a diabetic state that closely resembles human type I diabetes. The authors studied the pathologic changes of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium of four normal and nine diabetic BB rats using (1) light and electron microscopy with the horseradish peroxidase tracer technique, and (2) trypsin digest preparations of the retinal vessels. They observed a retin...