UVA Health scientists have discovered a contributor to harmful blood vessel growth in the eye, creating the possibility of new treatments for blinding macular degeneration and other common causes of vision loss.
UVA’s Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati and Shao-bin Wang and colleagues have identified a new target to prevent the formation of abnormal tangles of blood vessels. The tangles are associated with eye conditions such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration, proliferative diabetic retinopathy and ischemic retinal vein occlusion.
Scientists have known that abnormal vessel overgrowth in the eye is fueled by excessive amounts of a substance called “vascular endothelial growth factor-A,” or VEGF, which plays an important role in blood vessel formation.
Treatments now available that target VEGF to prevent overgrowth often provide dramatic benefits at first, but can fade with time. That leaves doctors in need of better treatments to help preserve eyesight.
