VA Office of Research and Development
To determine if levodopa will slow the appearance of blood vessel changes in the eyes of patients with diabetes. Treatment will be started in patients with diabetes show delays in the electrical activity of the retina when measured non-invasively with a electroretinogram.
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss in the US. To detect DR, individuals with diabetes are instructed to receive annual eye exams until visible retinopathy such as hemorrhages or aneurysms appear that often take years to develop. Even so, treatment is only provided when visually threatening disease is detected. The investigators' group and others have established that in people with diabetes, retinal neuronal dysfunction precedes clinically visible retinopathy. Non-invasive recordings of retinal function using the electroretinogram (ERG) have shown dysfunction with diab…
Inclusion Criteria: * HbA1c 8-12% * Diabetic patients with no retinopathy as screened with teleretinal imaging * Diabetic patients with microaneurysms as detected with fundus teleretinal screening * ERG oscillatory potential delays in response to dim flash stimuli Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with pituitary tumor, psychosis, Parkinson's disease * Patients with confounding ocular disease (visually significant cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa) * Patients with cognitive deficits (score of 24 or less on the Montreal Cognitive * Assessment-MOCA * No anti-VEGF or s…
25 mg carbidopa/100 mg levodopa
Placebo pill of similar size/shape
Arctuva estimate
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