According to the initial findings of a clinical trial, patients with a blinding consequence of diabetes can benefit from improved vision more efficiently from a low-cost, long-approved HIV medication. For millions of individuals suffering from diabetic macular edema (DME), a disorder that affects around one in fourteen diabetics, the medication lamivudine may be a significant new alternative. It impairs vision by accumulating fluid in the retina of the eye.

Researchers from the University of Virginia in the United States stated that because the medication is taken orally, it may provide patients with an alternative to receiving monthly injections into their eyes. According to researcher Jayakrishna Ambati from UVA Health’s Center for Advanced Vision Science, “we could also develop combination therapies because the mechanism of action of lamivudine is different from that of existing treatments.”

Lamivudine, according to the researchers, works well against DME because it inhibits the function of inflammasomes, which are crucial components of our immune systems. Although they often serve as infection sensors, inflammasomes have also been linked to the emergence of DME.

Two dozen patients with DME were enrolled in a small, randomized clinical trial for the study, which was published in the journal Med.

In addition to receiving injections of the medication bevacizumab into their eyes beginning after four weeks, participants were randomized to receive either lamivudine or a safe placebo. Even prior to their initial ocular injections, those who received lamivudine shown notable improvements in their vision.

After four weeks, they were able to read letters on an eye chart with an improvement of 9.8 letters (about two lines), but those who received a placebo saw a drop of 1.8 letters.

In contrast to the placebo group, which received bevacizumab alone, the lamivudine patients showed an impressive improvement of 16.9 letters (more than three lines on the eye chart) one month following the bevacizumab injections.

The findings imply that lamivudine may be effective both on its own and in combination with injections of bevacizumab; however, more extensive research is required to confirm this, the researchers stated.

While advocating for future lamivudine trials with larger patient populations, Ambati stated that lamivudine alone might be life-changing for people in many parts of the world with limited access to specialty doctors or who cannot afford or travel to monthly eye appointments.