DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for retinopathy — screening already-approved drugs against its 37-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleRetinopathy maps to a 37-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for retinopathy is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
insulin (INS) — INS is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet hc4drag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6TC2 · 1.36 Å · ligand 4'-HYDROXYCINNAMIC ACID (HC4). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 2009 mouse study of age-related macular degeneration, retinylamine showed the greatest efficacy among several tested agents at partially preventing atrophic retinal changes. Sirolimus (rapamycin) treatment for four months in six-month-old mice prevented choroidal neovascularisation without changing retinal VEGF levels, but the severity of retinal degeneration was similar to that seen with antioxidants and 9-cis-retinyl acetate. All tested agents, including ascorbic acid, alpha-lipoic acid, and alpha-tocopherol, only partially prevented atrophic changes. The authors concluded that further understanding of pathogenic mechanisms is needed.
A 1999 study of 1585 diabetic patients found that progression to proliferative retinopathy or clinically significant macular oedema was significantly related to baseline retinopathy severity. Fifty per cent of patients with severe non-proliferative retinopathy at entry progressed within one year; the three-year risk for mild and moderate non-proliferative retinopathy was 25% and 60%, respectively. Progression was also associated with higher glycosylated haemoglobin, longer diabetes duration, and antihypertensive treatment.
A 2013 retrospective study of 56 eyes from 28 patients with diabetic retinopathy and end-stage renal disease found that renal transplantation stabilised retinopathy in 60% of eyes. Worsening occurred in 32% of eyes, improvement in 8%. There was a significant visual improvement in the first 20 months after transplant, but mean best-corrected visual acuity before and after transplant was not significantly different overall.
A 2023 systematic review of 30 clinical trials involving 2324 patients examined herbal medicines for retinopathy. Eleven articles covered age-related macular degeneration, 14 covered diabetic retinopathy, and five covered other retinal disorders. The review reported that supplements and adjuvant medications appeared more beneficial in patients with AMD and diabetic maculopathy, but concluded that further studies are required to verify such efficiency. What remains missing are large, well-controlled human trials with standardised endpoints, adequate funding for long-term follow-up, and better patient stratification by retinopathy type and severity.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Evaluation of Potential Therapies for a Mouse Model of Human Age-Related Macular Degeneration Caused by Delayed all-<i>trans</i>-Retinal Clearance
AbstractPURPOSE: Evaluate the efficacy of potential therapeutics in Rdh8(-/-)Abca4(-/-) mice, a rodent model of human age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Therapeutic efficacy of several antioxidant agents (ascorbic acid, alpha-lipoic acid, alpha-tocopherol, Mn(III)-tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)-porphyrin, and butylated hydroxytoluene), an immunosuppressive agent with antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) activity (sirolimus, also known as rapamycin), a retinoid cycle inhibitor (retinylamine), and an artificial chromophore (9-cis-retinyl acetate) were evaluated side by side in a recently described murine model of AMD, the Rdh8(-/-)Abca4(-/-) mouse. This animal exhibits a retinopathy caused by delayed all-trans-retinal clearance resulting from the absence of both ATP-binding cassette transporter 4 (Abca4) and retinol dehydrogenase 8 (Rdh8) activities. Drug efficacy was evaluated by retinal histologic analyses and electroretinograms (ERGs). RESULTS: All tested agents partially prevented atrophic changes in the Rdh8(-/-)Abca4(-/-) retina with retinylamine demonstrating the greatest efficacy. A significant reduction of complement deposition on Bruch's membrane was observed in sirolimus-treated mice, although the severity of retinal degeneration was similar to that observed in antioxidant- and 9-cis-retinyl acetate-treated mice. Sirolimus treatment of 6-month-old Rdh8(-/-)Abca4(-/-) mice for 4 months prevented choroidal neovascularization without changing retinal VEGF levels. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanism-based therapy with retinylamine markedly attenuated degenerative retinopathy in Rdh8(-/-)Abca4(-/-) mice. Further understanding of pathogenic mechanisms involved in AMD is needed to develop more effective therapeutics.
Progression to proliferative retinopathy and macular oedema requiring treatment. Assessment of the alternative classification of the Wisconsin Study
AbstractPURPOSE: To study the ability of the alternative classification of the Wisconsin Study to predict progression to retinopathy requiring laser treatment in patients with diabetes. METHODS: A total of 1585 diabetic patients were included in the study. Of them, 294 (19%) were diagnosed with diabetes before and 1291 (81%) after age 30 years. Retinopathy was diagnosed on fundus photographs using a modification of the Wisconsin scale, and graded into 6 levels according to the worse eye. The first visit during the study period was used to represent baseline examination. The time points for detection of proliferative retinopathy (PDR) and clinically significant macular oedema (CSME) were recorded during a mean follow-up time of 2.9 years. RESULTS: Progression to PDR and/or CSME was significantly related to increasing severity of retinopathy at baseline (p<0.001; test for trend). Fifty per cent of patients with severe non-proliferative retinopathy (NPDR) (level 51) at entry progressed within one year to PDR and/or CSME; the 3-year risk for such progression in patients with mild (level 31) and moderate NPDR (level 41) was 25 and 60%, respectively. The incidence of progression to PDR and to CSME was 0.95 and 2.3/100 person-years, respectively. Progression to PDR and/or CSME was furthermore associated with a higher level of glycosylated haemoglobin, longer duration of the diabetes and use of antihypertensive treatment. CONCLUSION: Increasing severity of retinopathy as recorded by this modification of the alternative classification of the Wisconsin Study was significantly associated with increased risk of progression to retinopathy requiring treatment.
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology · 2013 · 22 citations · open access
The effects of renal transplantation on diabetic retinopathy: Clinical course and visual outcomes
AbstractPURPOSE: To elucidate the clinical course of diabetic retinopathy (DR) after renal transplantation (RT) in a hospital based cohort. DESIGN: Retrospective study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 56 eyes of 28 patients, who had DR and end stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetes and had undergone RT, were included in this study. Diagnosis and management of DR was carried out according to early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) guidelines. DR outcome was defined as worsening if there was >2 step increase in the grade of DR or need for intervention such as laser (macular or pan retinal) or vitreoretinal surgery, improvement for <2 step change while stabilization was defined if DR remained within these two limits. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients were 48.9 years. The mean duration of diabetes in the study group was 12.7 years. The patients were followed-up for a mean period of 52.2 ± 43.6 months. The pre-transplant mean Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.4876 log MAR units and post-transplant mean BCVA was 0.4858 (P = 0.05). However, there was a significant visual improvement in first 20 months of renal transplant (P = 0.03). Worsening of DR was noted in 16 (32%) eyes whereas improvement was seen in 4 (8%). However, majority of eyes 30 (60%) had stable retinopathy at the final follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: RT stabilized the retinopathy status in the majority of patients although in a minor subset the disease course was unpredictable.
Therapeutic effects of herbal medicines in different types of retinopathies: A systematic review.
AbstractObjective: Retinopathy is an ocular manifestation of systemic diseases such as diabetes and vascular diseases. Herbal drugs have been considered as an effective therapeutic option with minimal side effects for the treatment of retinopathy by reducing the symptoms and improving visual acuity. The purpose of this systematic review was to collect studies on the effectiveness of medicinal plants in the treatment or prevention of retinopathy. Materials and Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and other databases in April 2021 using "herbal products" and "Retinopathy" with all their equivalent and similar terms. For this purpose, human clinical trials with the English language were included and articles with subject irrelevancy were excluded from further evaluation. Results: Overall, 30 articles with 2324 patients were studied for possible effects of herbal therapy on retinopathy. From 30 included articles, different herbal products had been evaluated. Out of 30 selected articles, 11 articles were for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), 14 articles covered patients with diabetic retinopathy, and the other five studies were for other retinal disorders. The outcomes in majority of the studies include changes in visual acuity (VA), fundus performance, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), focal electroretinogram (fERG), supplements and adjuvant medications appeared to be more beneficial in patients with AMD and diabetic maculopathy. Conclusion: Herbal therapy can be considered as a potential candidate in the adjuvant and complementary therapies of retinopathy. However, further studies are required to verify such efficiency.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
