Pathophysiology Section

• Current Research
  • Preventing Ocular Complications of Diabetes
  • Significance of Research
• Staff
• Recent Selected Publications

Current Research

This research group conducts clinically related basic research on human tissues and experimental animals to elucidate the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of ocular diseases, including retinopathy, cataracts, and keratopathy, with the ultimate aim of improving means of diagnosing, treating, and preventing ocular disorders. The main emphasis has been on the possible means of preventing ocular complications of diabetes.

The areas of focus include:

1) developing a rat model of diabetic ocular complications, including retinopathy;

2) defining how damage to the lens epithelium relates to cataracts;

3) demonstrating the involvement of the polyol pathway in diabetic retinopathy;

4) determining the efficacious timing for intervening in diabetic retinopathy;

5) elucidating the relative roles of polyol and non-enzymatic glycosylation (glycation) in cataracts;

6) developing novel procedures for ideal isolation of retinal vasculatures (retinal digest preparations);

7) evaluating growth factor inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents;

8) utilizing a model of retinopathy of prematurity to study angiogenesis;

9) evaluating agents that induce and inhibit angiogenesis; and

10) demonstrating diabetic-like corneal sensitivity loss in galactosemic rats and its amelioration with aldose reductase inhibitors.

11) demonstrating diabetic-like corneal sensitivity loss in galactosemic rats and its amelioration with aldose reductase inhibitors.

For summaries of ongoing investigations click on the following:

• Preventing Ocular Complications of Diabetes
  
• Significance of Research

Staff

Selected Publications