Protein offers hope for AMD treatment

A drug to help prevent blood vessel damage in macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy is a step closer, researchers report.

A study by the University of Utah School of Medicine found that a protein called Robo4 prevented or reversed vessel damage in mice bred to mimic the effects of AMD and diabetic retinopathy. The study was published in Nature Medicine.

Clinical trials on humans are estimated to be at least five years away according to the study's senior author Professor Dean Li, but the discovery is being heralded as 'a major breakthrough'.

Dr Hemin Chin from the US National Eye Institute told BBC Online: 'Given that vascular eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, are the number one cause of vision loss in the US, the identification of new signalling pathways that prevent abnormal vessel growth and leakage in the eye represents a major scientific advancement.'