According to the International Diabetes Federation, about 11% of the world’s population lives with diabetes, with 90% having type 2 diabetes.
Researchers estimate that as much as 40% of all people with diabetes also have diabetic retinopathy — a potentially blinding eye condition caused by blood vessel damage in the eye’s retina.
There is currently no cure for diabetic retinopathy. The condition is often managed through injections of anti-VEGF medications into the eye, surgery, and blood sugar monitoring and control.
Past studies also show that anti-VEGF injections may help prevent diabetic retinopathy and its complications, as well as healthy lifestyle factors like managing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol levels, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, and not smokingTrusted Source.
Now, a new study recently published in the journal Pharmaceutics has found that semaglutide — the active ingredient found in GLP-1 medicationsTrusted Source like Ozempic for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss — may help protect the eyes from diabetic retinopathy.
For this lab-based study, researchers used samples of human retinal endothelial cells that were treated with different concentrations of semaglutide. The cells were then placed in a solution with both a high glucose level and high level of oxidative stress — where there is an imbalance of antioxidants and free radicals — for 24 hours.
Past studies show that oxidative stress plays a role in the formation of diabetic retinopathy.
At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that the retinal cells treated with semaglutide were twice as likely to survive than cells that were untreated. Additionally, the treated cells were found to have larger stores of energy.
Scientists also found that three markers of diabetic retinopathy were decreased in the semaglutide-treated retinal cells. First, the levels of apoptosis — a form of cell death — decreased from about 50% in untreated cells to about 10% in semaglutide-treated cells. The production of the free radical mitochondrial superoxide decreased from about 90% to about 10% in the treated retinal cells.
Researchers also found the amount of advanced glycation end-products — harmful compounds that can collect in people with diabetes and are known to cause oxidative stress — also decreased substantially.
Lastly, scientists reported that the genes involved in the production of antioxidants were more active in the semaglutide-treated cells when compared to untreated cells. Researchers believe this is a sign that semaglutide may help repair damage to the retinal cells.
“Our study did not find that these drugs harmed the retinal cells in any way — instead, it suggests that GLP1-receptor agonists protect against diabetic retinopathy, particularly in the early stages,” Ioanna Anastasiou, PhD, molecular biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the National and Kapodistrian University in Greece, and lead author of this study, said in a press release.
