REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
This article is part of the Research TopicEarly-stage retinal diseases: Pathophysiology, Diagnostics and TherapeuticsView all 6 articles
The Novel Antidiabetic Medications on Diabetic Retinopathy: Relevant Molecular Mechanisms, Advancing Diagnostic Innovations, and Therapeutic Implications
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Endocrinology, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Shanghai, China
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Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a major cause of vision loss in working-age adults, manifests as a microvascular complication of diabetes, with early-stage non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) requiring timely intervention. This review explores the molecular mechanisms underlying early DR, including microvascular damage, inflammation, oxidative stress, and advanced glycation end products, with distinct profiles in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Novel antidiabetic medications, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, SGLT-2 inhibitors, and dual GIP/GLP-1 agonists, target these pathways, may have potential to reduce NPDR progression expected in clinical trials. Advanced diagnostics, including ultra-widefield fundus photography, OCT, OCTA, and AI-based algorithms, achieve over 95% accuracy in detecting NPDR and predicting systemic risks like cardiovascular disease. This article highlights the therapeutic implications of novel antidiabetic drugs, advocating for integrated diagnostic and treatment strategies to mitigate DR's global burden and preserve vision.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Diagnostics, Diabetic Retinopathy, incretin-based therapy, optical coherence tomography (OCT), SGLT-2 inhibitors, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes
Received: 21 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wen, Xu, Yuan, Chen, Ren, Xu, Jin, Li and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Song Wen
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