Novel cell-based Restorative Approach in Treatment of Diabetes-related Retinopath

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Retinal vascular diseases remain a common cause of vision loss and blindness with diabetes as the most common condition leading to retinopathy in adults in Western society. In particular, with type 1 diabetes the majority of patients will develo diabetic retinopathy (DR) with about 20-30% becoming legally blind while in type 2 diabetes more than 60% of patients will exhibit DR. With the well-documented global epidemic of type 2 diabetes, DR is likely to increase in incidence and prevalence since over 360 million people world-wide are projected to suffer from diabetes by 2030. Although therapies such as anti-VEGF agents and laser are currently available to treat macular edema and neovascularization, there is no treatment that regenerates damaged retinal vasculature with reestablishment of critical levels of blood flow needed to support and sustain recovery. Research over the last decade has shown that peripheral blood (PB)-derived CD34+ stem/progenitor cells are capable