Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a very serious condition that is a leading cause of blindness in industrialized countries. DR may be asymptomatic for a long time and develops from intense inflammatory and oxidative stress that triggers degeneration of retinal cell populations, followed by retinal artery wall damage and development of intraretinal microvascular abnormalities. In the advanced stages of the disease, ischemia leads to proliferation of new vessels with impaired permeability and the onset of the most severe form, proliferative DR. Treatment of DR consists of laser photocoagulation or treatment with numerous and uncomfortable intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF drugs. However, these are costly, late, and invasive interventions that effectively curb disease progression, but not in all patients, and require periodic boosters. Therefore, there is considerable interest in developing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory treatments that can block or slow the onset of DR and prevents the occurrence of vascular damage. The goal of this project is to demonstrate, through in vitro and in vivo experiments, the efficacy and mechanism of action of a preventive treatment using the powerful antioxidant molecule N-acetylcysteine ethyl ester (NACET), which could be a cost-effective, simple, and safe treatment that acts on the triggering biochemical events at the earliest possible time without waiting for the onset of vascular symptoms.

The project is funded by Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. under the Funding Fund “Charitable and social and cultural works”