New Delhi– A low-cost, long-approved HIV medication may significantly improve vision in people suffering from a common and potentially blinding complication of diabetes, according to preliminary findings from a clinical trial.
The drug, lamivudine, could offer a game-changing treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME)—a condition that affects roughly one in 14 people with diabetes and leads to fluid buildup in the retina, impairing vision.
Researchers from the University of Virginia (UVA) in the United States suggest that because lamivudine is taken orally, it could offer a less invasive alternative to the current standard of monthly eye injections.
“The mechanism of action of lamivudine is different from existing treatments, which opens the door to potential combination therapies,” said Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati of UVA Health’s Center for Advanced Vision Science.
The drug works by inhibiting inflammasomes, immune system components that act as infection sensors but have also been linked to the development of DME. By blocking these inflammasomes, lamivudine appears to reduce inflammation and fluid accumulation in the eye.
The findings, published in the journal Med, come from a small randomized clinical trial involving 24 adults with DME. Participants received either lamivudine or a placebo, followed by bevacizumab (a standard injectable treatment for DME) starting four weeks into the trial.
Remarkably, participants who took lamivudine experienced significant vision improvements even before receiving their first injection. On average, they gained 9.8 letters on an eye chart after four weeks—about two full lines—while those on the placebo lost 1.8 letters.
After receiving bevacizumab, the lamivudine group improved even further, gaining 16.9 letters (over three lines), compared to a gain of only 5.3 letters in the placebo group.
These results suggest lamivudine may be effective both as a standalone treatment and when used in combination with traditional injections. However, researchers caution that larger trials are needed to confirm the findings.
“This could be life-changing for patients in parts of the world where access to specialists or regular eye treatments is limited,” said Ambati, who urged further studies to validate lamivudine’s potential for broader use. (Source: IANS)
