Shaista, Abdul Waris*, Sheelu Shafiq Siddiqi, Tanusree Debbarman, Vivek Ram K.U. and Dimple Thacker
Background: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) ranks among the primary causes of vision loss in both developing and developed nations. Its development, pathophysiology, and prognosis have been linked to genetics, epigenetics, and environmental factors. Epigenetics have been linked to normal physiological foetal development during embryogenesis, cancer, psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, renovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, etc. Diabetes, being one of the diseases that cause multisystem disorders, retinopathy being one of them, has been closely associated with epigenetics, especially DNA methylation in its development.
Overview and methodology: Our review article focuses on the existing literature on epigenetics, mainly methylation. It discusses the current understanding of global DNA methylation in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy and how it can be utilised for early diagnosis and treatment in the early phases of DR. The article compiles existing knowledge about the role of global DNA methylation in the development of diabetic retinopathy and its potential applications in diagnosing and treating the condition during its early stages. We have gathered our information from various articles published in PubMed, google scholar, Cochrane library and research gate. This article will upgrade our knowledge of DNA methylation in diabetic retinopathy and its possible use as a biomarker for early diagnosis in the near future. It will undoubtedly provide new hope for people prone to developing retinopathy and for people suffering from diabetic retinopathy.
Results: Based on an epigenetic study done in middle east population 168 patients (74 patients with retinopathy and 94 patients without retinopathy) using reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography of peripheral blood leukocytes to determine 5- methylcytosine content of whole DNA status in two groups, either with or without retinopathy and concluded that methylation levels were significantly higher in diabetic retinopathy patients and a positive correlation between the whole DNA methylation levels and progression of diabetic retinopathy.
Conclusion: A need for more extensive research involving multiple centres and diverse racial backgrounds is crucial in studying diabetic individuals with existing retinopathy, those at risk of developing retinopathy, and even healthy individuals prone to diabetes. These types of studies would be essential for determining the viability of methylation as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target in these populations.
