The latest advance of the relationship between autophagy and diabetic retinopathy

As a serious complication of diabetes mellitus, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the major causes of blindness, and its prevalence has been increasing worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to figure out the mechanism of DR and identify an effective therapeutic target to prevent it. Autophagy is a major catabolic pathway involved in degrading and recycling damaged organelles and macromolecules to maintain intracellular homeostasis. The study of autophagy in mammalian systems is advancing rapidly and has revealed that it is involved in the pathogenesis of various metabolic and age-related diseases. The role of autophagy in such diseases as tumors, diabetic nephropathy (DN), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), etc, is currently under intense investigation. And there's a close relationship between autophagy and DR related factors as well including nutrient stress, oxidative stress, hypoxia, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and so on.