Current drug discovery technologies
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Curr Drug Discov Technol · Mar 2006
ReviewAdvanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their receptor (RAGE) system in diabetic retinopathy.
Vascular complications are a leading cause of blindness, end-stage renal failure, a variety of neuropathies and accelerated atherosclerosis, which could account for disabilities and high mortality rates in patients with diabetes. There is a growing body of evidence that formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) progress during normal aging, and at an extremely accelerated rate in diabetes, thus being involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular complications. ⋯ This review discusses the molecular mechanisms of diabetic retinopathy, especially focusing on the AGE-RAGE system. Several types of inhibitors of the AGE-RAGE system and their therapeutic implications are also reviewed here.