A pilot clinical study on the effectiveness of Mesoglycan against diabetic retinopathy

Purpose. A double-blind placebo-controlled study on 68 patients suffering by Diabetic Retinopathy was aimed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of Mesoglycan in this pathology. This drug is particularly interested in treatment of disorders of microcirculation. Materials and Methods. The two treatments were randomly assigned to each patient, using a 100 mg/day dosage of Mesoglycan, and both treatments were prescribed for 6 months. The efficacy of both treatments was based on clinical and instrumental check. Results. The clinical results that emerged in the group treated with Mesoglycan were excellent, although observations are on a limited number of patients appears a direct action of Mesoglycan on the endothelium retinal blood vessels and circulation. Indeed, in the observed patients, was detected a significant reduction of microhe-morrhages, microaneurysms and exudates. The same cannot be said of the placebo group; none of patients of that group showed signs of clinical improvement at the end of the study. Conclusion. Data emerging from our study show a direct action of Mesoglycan on endothelium retinal blood vessels and circulation, as we observed in patients we found a significant reduction in the number of microhe-morrhages, microaneurysms and exudates. This action can be explained by the characteristics of drug as antithrombotic profibrinolytic and anti-edema, already found in vitro and experimentally. We conclude that our preliminary study showed an encouraging clinical efficacy, together with excellent tolerability, and therefore our objective has been met, which was to verify the existence of the prerequisites for a larger clinical study. Clin Ter 2012; 163(1): 19-22