ArticlePloS one2013
N-3 polyunsaturated Fatty acids prevent diabetic retinopathy by inhibition of retinal vascular damage and enhanced endothelial progenitor cell reparative function.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Implications of Diabetes-Induced Altered Metabolites on Retinal Neurodegeneration.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Diet and risk of diabetic retinopathy: a systematic review.European journal of epidemiology · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Lipid homeostasis plays a critical role in inherited and acquired retinal diseases.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Ferroptosis in diabetic retinopathy: from pathogenic mechanisms to translational prospects.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Implications of Fatty Acids for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Evidence and Recommendations.Cells · 2025Review
- Nutrients and Natural Substances for Hypoglycemic Effects and Management in Diabetic Retinopathy.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Elevated Very-Long-Chain Ceramides in the Vitreous Humor of Patients With Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Genetic mechanisms of hemispheric functional connectivity in diabetic retinopathy: a joint neuroimaging and transcriptomic study.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Article
- Effects of Selected Antioxidants on Electroretinography in Rodent Diabetic Retinopathy.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Retinal Docosahexaenoic Acid Is Significantly Reduced in Diabetic Humans and Mice: Possible Relationship to Diabetic Retinopathy.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2024Article
- Diabetic retinopathy is a ceramidopathy reversible by anti-ceramide immunotherapy.Cell metabolism · 2024Article
- Understanding the Impact of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Study protocol of OmegaROP-2 prospective study: expression of placental fatty acid receptors in preterm newborns with retinopathy of prematurity.BMC ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Mendelian Randomization Analysis Reveals Causal Effects of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Subtypes of Diabetic Retinopathy Risk.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Improvement of retinal function in Alzheimer disease-associated retinopathy by dietary lysophosphatidylcholine-EPA/DHA.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Retinal Microvasculature and Neural Changes and Dietary Patterns in an Older Population in Southern Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Lipids, hyperreflective crystalline deposits and diabetic retinopathy: potential systemic and retinal-specific effect of lipid-lowering therapies.Diabetologia · 2022Review
- The Effect of Diet and Lifestyle on the Course of Diabetic Retinopathy-A Review of the Literature.Nutrients · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe vasodegenerative phase of diabetic retinopathy is characterized by not only retinal vascular degeneration but also inadequate vascular repair due to compromised bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). We propose that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) deficiency in diabetes results in activation of the central enzyme of sphingolipid metabolism, acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) and that ASM represents a molecular metabolic link connecting the initial damage in the retina and the dysfunction of EPCs. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsType 2 diabetic rats on control or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich diet were studied. The number of acellular capillaries in the retinas was assessed by trypsin digest. mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 in the retinas from diabetic animals were compared to controls and ASM protein was assessed by western analysis. EPCs were isolated from blood and bone marrow and their numbers and ability to form colonies in vitro, ASM activity and lipid profiles were determined.
resultsDHA-rich diet prevented diabetes-induced increase in the number of retinal acellular capillaries and significantly enhanced the life span of type 2 diabetic animals. DHA-rich diet blocked upregulation of ASM and other inflammatory markers in diabetic retina and prevented the increase in ASM activity in EPCs, normalized the numbers of circulating EPCs and improved EPC colony formation.
conclusionsIn a type 2 diabetes animal model, DHA-rich diet fully prevented retinal vascular pathology through inhibition of ASM in both retina and EPCs, leading to a concomitant suppression of retinal inflammation and correction of EPC number and function.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.