Diabetic Retinopathy - Treatment
Flavonoids -
updated: 15 March 2008
Natural therapies for ocular disorders, part one: diseases of the retina
Altern Med Rev. 1999 Oct;4(5):342-59
Head KA.
Diseases of the retina are the leading causes of blindness throughout the world. Evidence points to potential benefit from nutritional and botanical interventions for the prevention and treatment of several of these conditions, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of the newborn, and retinitis pigmentosa. Epidemiological evidence points to the potential of antioxidant vitamins E and C, carotenoids, zinc, and selenium in the prevention and possible treatment of macular degeneration. In addition, dietary components such as red wine-high in important flavonoids-and fruits and vegetables high in carotenoids appear to offer some protection. While diabetic retinopathy can best be prevented by maintaining good blood sugar control, there are a number of nutrients and botanicals which may help prevent and treat retinopathy by inhibiting protein glycosylation, stabilizing collagen, decreasing capillary permeability, and providing important antioxidant effects. Extensive research on the use of vitamin E for the prevention of retrolental fibroplasia (retinopathy of the newborn), despite yielding promising results, has not resulted in incorporation of vitamin E into conventional standards of care protocols. Retinitis pigmentosa resembles the retinal damage seen in taurine-deficient cats. While patients with retinitis pigmentosa do not appear to be deficient in taurine, they appear to have faulty cellular uptake of this important amino acid. Disturbed utilization of vitamin A also appears to play a part in retinitis pigmentosa, and a subgroup of patients benefit from supplementation.
Publication Types:
Online - Article
Berry anthocyanins as novel antioxidants in human health and disease prevention
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Jun;51(6):675-83
Zafra-Stone S, Yasmin T, Bagchi M, Chatterjee A, Vinson JA, Bagchi D.
Edible berries, a potential source of natural anthocyanin antioxidants, have demonstrated a broad spectrum of biomedical functions. These include cardiovascular disorders, advancing age-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and diverse degenerative diseases. Berry anthocyanins also improve neuronal and cognitive brain functions, ocular health as well as protect genomic DNA integrity. This chapter demonstrates the beneficial effects of wild blueberry, bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, raspberry seeds, and strawberry in human health and disease prevention. Furthermore, this chapter will discuss the pharmacological benefits of a novel combination of selected berry extracts known as OptiBerry, a combination of wild blueberry, wild bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, raspberry seeds, and strawberry, and its potential benefit over individual berries. Recent studies in our laboratories have demonstrated that OptiBerry exhibits high antioxidant efficacy as shown by its high oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values, novel antiangiogenic and antiatherosclerotic activities, and potential cytotoxicity towards Helicobacter pylori, a noxious pathogen responsible for various gastrointestinal disorders including duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, as compared to individual berry extracts. OptiBerry also significantly inhibited basal MCP-1 and inducible NF-kappabeta transcriptions as well as the inflammatory biomarker IL-8, and significantly reduced the ability to form hemangioma and markedly decreased EOMA cell-induced tumor growth in an in vivo model. Overall, berry anthocyanins trigger genetic signaling in promoting human health and disease prevention.
Publication Types:
Online - Abstract
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