Monoclonal antibodies in diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), as one of the main complications of diabetes, is among the leading causes of blindness and visual impairment worldwide.

Current clinical therapies include photocoagulation, vitrectomy, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies. Bevacizumab and ranibizumab are two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) inhibiting angiogenesis. Intravitreal ranibizumab and bevacizumab can decrease the rate of blindness and retinal thickness, and improve visual acuity whether as monotherapy or combined with other treatments. They can increase the efficacy of other treatments and decrease their adverse events. Although administered intravitreally, they also might enter the circulation and cause systemic effects. This study is aimed to review our current knowledge about mAbs, bevacizumab and ranibizumab, in DR including superiorities, challenges, and limitations. Meanwhile, we tried to shed light on new ideas to overcome these limitations. Our latest search was done in April 2021 mainly through PubMed and Google Scholar. Relevant clinical studies were imported.

Future direction includes detection of more therapeutic targets considering other components of DR pathophysiology and shared pathogenesis of DR and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease, the treat-and-extend regimen, and new ways of drug delivery and other routes of ocular drug administration.