Benefits to society:

Diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic disease that has become an epidemic with more than 285 million cases at worldwide level. Major medical advances over the past decades have substantially improved the management of the disease, extending patient’s survival. However, this extended survival, also carries and increases risk to develop macrovascular and microvascular complication associated to diabetes. Among that, diabetic retinopathy is the most common and the most feared complication of diabetes, representing the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in developed countries. At the moment, there is no medical intervention that could effectively prevent or delay the onset of diabetic retinopathy. All therapeutic options involve the use of highly invasive techniques, are applicable only in advanced stages of the disease and are ineffective against restoring diminished visual acuity. Therefore, the generation of more effective strategies that could in an early intervention prevent or delay the onset of diabetic retinopathy are needed.

In this project, using an animal model of diabetes, we will evaluate the possible contribution of the administration of mesenchymal stem cells in the prevention of diabetic retinopathy. If we obtain positive results, data generated in this preclinical study could be used for the generation of a clinical trial protocol. Thus, translating promising results from the laboratory to the clinical field.