PNAs: a new study reveals the method of inhibiting macular degeneration

January 24, 2020 / BIOON / -- blinding eye disease is the main cause of vision loss in people aged 60 and over In a recent study, the authors revealed a link between two major forms of blinding eye disease, which led to the successful treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at the mouse level Brad Gelfand, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Virginia School of medicine and the UVA School of engineering, said the method could not be directly used in clinical practice at present, but had great potential for transformation A new study found a link between "dry" and "wet" macular degeneration Gelfand found that in the absence of a specific enzyme, two forms of AMD can occur at the same time He and his team have determined that the enzyme, known as Dicer, is lost as we age, which can lead to excessive retinal vascular growth and other damage (source: www Pixabay Com) further, Gelfand restored the enzyme's activity in mice by using a gene therapy that has been used to treat other human eye diseases His work shows that this method can effectively treat two forms of AMD, but more tests are needed to determine the safety and effectiveness of the potential treatment If successful, it will be the first treatment for dry macular degeneration, and can significantly improve the treatment of wet AMD "At present, wet amd patients must receive frequent eye injections, which is painful and at risk Gene therapy, by contrast, will last a long time So we can improve their vision and reduce the number of times they go to see a doctor " The results were published in the latest PNAs magazine Source of information: potential way to halt blinding mechanical generation identified original source: Charles B Wright et al, chronic Dicer1 deficiency promotions technical and neovasular outer recurrent pathways in mice, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020) Doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909761117