A Brief Review on the Pathological Role of Decreased Blood Flow Affected in Retinitis Pigmentosa

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) represents a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disease characterized by progressive photoreceptor loss. In recent years, research has been rarely made in blood flow affected in RP. The specific mechanism of blood flow affected in RP is not completely clear. A number of studies indicated that the decreased blood flow was related to RP. According to clinical observation and treatment experience, Chinese medicine considered that blood stasis runs throughout the RP disease progression, and the blood stasis corresponding to Chinese herbal medicine has a positive effect on the clinical treatment of RP. Therefore, we proposed that the decreased blood flow may participate in the lesion. In this article, we will review the findings on the decreased blood flow affected in RP from the perspective of modern medicine and Chinese medicine.

Figure 1

Blood stasis as effect of RP in Chinese medicine. In Chinese medicine, the main etiologies of RP include congenital deficiency, liver and kidney deficiency, and spleen and stomach deficiency; these etiologies are accompanied by nourishment and blood insufficiency, essence and blood insufficiency, and Qi and blood insufficiency in the eyes, respectively. The main etiologies may be independent or complex and can even be converted to each other. With the influence of these etiologies, patients of RP manifested vision impairment; vascular thinning, which the pathology process performs as photoreceptor death; and blood stasis.