STZ-Induced Diabetic Retinopathy Models

Diabetic retinopathy is a major contributor to vision loss and blindness in working-age adults with diabetes. Developing animal models that accurately represent human diabetic retinopathy is challenging because this disease is complex and involves multiple factors, including genetic predisposition, duration of diabetes, and glycemic control. It is crucial to replicate the human pathophysiology in these models to ensure the research findings are translatable.

At the 2025 American Diabetes Association (ADA) session, WuXi Biology presented a poster on the development of a diabetic retinopathy model using Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic animals, and validation of this model through the use of a reference agent, aflibercept.  The authors demonstrate that this model exhibits significant retinal dysfunction and inflammation, whereas treatment with aflibercept effectively alleviates these complications.

Poster_ADA 2025_Retinopathy

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