Anti-VEGF nel trattamento della retinopatia diabetica

The most common causes of vision loss in patients affected by diabetes mellitus are represented by diabetic macular edema (DME) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The global burden of diabetic retinopathy (DR) requires special care owing to its high impact on public health and on quality of life of patients. At present, laser retinal photocoagulation is still the standard of care for the management of DR. However, laser treatment have shown clear limitations, reducing the risk of moderate visual loss by approximately 50%, with no remarkable vision recovery. Thus, new approaches in the treatment of DR have been tried, including the therapy based on anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs. VEGF is a pluripotent growth factor that acts as endothelial cell-specific mitogen and vasopermeability factor. Through these mechanisms the VEGF has a critical role in promoting the angiogenesis and vascular leakage in DR. Main anti-VEGF molecules which have been recently studied for the treatment of DR include pegaptanib, ranibizumab, and bevacizumab. In the present review, the results of the anti-VEGF therapy in the treatment of the DME and PDR are described and discussed.