The eyes are the window to the soul, as the old saying goes, but are the eyes also the window to cardiovascular disease? Diabetic retinopathy is a common diabetic microvascular disease and a leading cause of blindness in diabetes patients worldwide. Defects in the blood-retinal barrier caused by increased production of vascular endothelial growth factor-A isoforms promote angiogenesis and permeability. Listen as Consulting Editor Dr. Shawn Bender (University of Missouri, Columbia) interviews first author Dr. Naseeb Malhi (City of Hope National Medical Center), senior author Dr. David Bates (University of Nottingham), and expert Dr. Jerome Breslin (University of South Florida) about the new study by Malhi et al, which investigated whether serine-arginine-rich protein kinase-1 (SRPK1) inhibition can attenuate the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy. The authors conducted a combination of mechanistic in vitro studies using human retinal pigment epithelial cells and studies in type 1 diabetic rats to investigate whether SRPK1 is activated in diabetes, and whether an SRPK1 inhibitor (SPHINX31) switches VEGF splicing in diabetic retinopathy to prevent increased vascular permeability into the retina. The novel intervention design of delivering the SRPK1 inhibitor via eyedrop in the authors’ diabetic rat model was used preventatively at the outset of the diabetes phenotype. Does this unique treatment modality offer promise for treating established diabetic retinopathy? Listen and learn.

 

Naseeb K. Malhi, Claire L. Allen, Elizabeth Stewart, Katherine L. Horton, Federica Riu, Jennifer Batson, Winfried Amoaku, Jonathan C. Morris, Kenton P. Arkill, David O. Bates Serine-arginine-rich protein kinase-1 inhibition for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published May 10, 2022. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00001.2022