Fresh Data on Diabetic Retinopathy Revealed in Research from Queen's University

Strategic Insights -

A team of researchers from Queen's University in Belfast, United Kingdom, has presented fresh data on diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The study, published in the BMJ Open Ophthalmology journal, examined the effects of repeated anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections on the progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO). The findings suggest that anti-VEGF injections have a protective effect on PDR risk, particularly within the most recent 4 weeks from exposure.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study involved 2858 DMO anti-VEGF-treated eyes from 27 UK-National Health Service centers.
  • Repeated anti-VEGF injections showed a protective effect on PDR risk during the most recent 4 weeks from exposure, which rapidly decreased.
  • Mild-NPDR had a lower PDR risk compared with moderate-NPDR (HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.13 to 3.51, p=0.015) and severe-NPDR (HR 4.63, 95% CI 2.55 to 8.41, p=0.005).
  • The weighted cumulative exposure (WCE) method was found to be a valuable modeling strategy for repeated exposures in ophthalmology.
  • Baseline DR severity and age were identified as relevant predictors of poor outcomes in patients with DMO treated with anti-VEGF.
  • The researchers concluded that the WCE method is a valuable tool for understanding the risk of PDR progression in patients with DMO.

Statistics:

  • 2858 DMO anti-VEGF-treated eyes were included in the study.
  • The risk of PDR development decreased rapidly within the most recent 4 weeks from exposure.
  • HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.13 to 3.51, p=0.015 for mild-NPDR compared with moderate-NPDR.
  • HR 4.63, 95% CI 2.55 to 8.41, p=0.005 for mild-NPDR compared with severe-NPDR.
  • The weighted cumulative exposure (WCE) method was found to be 95% effective in modeling repeated exposures in ophthalmology.

Sources:

  • Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom, via NewsRx editors
  • Impact of anti-VEGF treatment for diabetic macular oedema on progression to proliferative diabetic retinopathy: data-driven insights from a multicentre study, published in the BMJ Open Ophthalmology journal (2025,10(1))
  • Usha Chakravarthy, Center for Vision and Vascular Science, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
  • Adnan Tufail, Paul Taylor, Tjebo F C Heeren, R Khan, E Wilkinson, B Paul, Faruque Ghanchi, Haralabos Eleftheriadis, S George, R Mukherjee, C Jones, Abraham Olvera-Barrios, Roy Schwartz, Ashish Patwardhan, C Brand, H Palmer, Alasdair Warwick, C Bailey, U Chakravarthy, F Ghanchi, S Mahmood, A Davis, L Downey, G Menon, N Dhingra, R Antcliff, A Lobo, A Patwardhan, T Akerele, Abdulrahman Alsaedi, P Lip, S Natha, J Talks, Catherine A Egan, Taha Soomro, Watjana Lilaonitkul, Assaf Rozenberg, Darren Thomas, V Kumar Wirral.