Chief Supervisor

Dr PAN Feng

Project Title

Synopsis

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a diabetes complication related to the eyes, is a medical condition in which retinal damage occurs and could progress to blindness at the late stage. One of the most common features of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) is capillary occlusion. During occlusion, ischemia and hypoxia could drive the microenvironment into a pro-inflammatory state. Using a mice model of type 1 diabetic induced streptozotozin, this study attempts to administer the tested drugs such as aspirin directly into the eye through intravitreal injection in order to prevent the progression of DR. In addition, visual optokinetic response and intracellular labelling will be used to determine the efficacy of the treatment by observing visual acuity and alpha ganglion cell morphology, respectively. The long-term goal is to develop a new line of drug to benefit patients with diabetic retinopathy.