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Review
. 2014 Jun;38(3):163-70.
doi: 10.4093/dmj.2014.38.3.163.

Interrelationships between the Retinal Neuroglia and Vasculature in Diabetes

Timothy S Kern  1
Affiliations
Review

Interrelationships between the Retinal Neuroglia and Vasculature in Diabetes

Timothy S Kern. Diabetes Metab J. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

For years, diabetic retinopathy has been defined based on vascular lesions, and neural abnormalities were not regarded as important. This review summarizes evidence that the neural retina has important effects on the retinal vasculature under normal conditions, and the interaction between the retinal neuroglial cells and vascular function is altered in diabetes. Importantly, new evidence raises a possibility that abnormalities within retinal neuroglial cells (notably photoreceptors) might actually be causing or initiating the vascular disease in diabetic retinopathy.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; Neurovascular coupling; Photoreceptors; Retina.

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Conflict of interest statement

This work was funded by PHS grants EY00300 and EY022938, and by a Merit grant from the Veteran's Administration.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of neural and vascular interactions in (A) nondiabetic and (B) diabetic conditions. Normally, neural metabolism influences blood delivery to neural tissues, and the increase in local blood flow after increased neural activity maintains the interaction between these two compartments. In diabetes, both neural signaling to the vasculature, and the delivery of nutrients to the retina become impaired.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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