13/04/2012

On April 12 and 13 has taken place at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital the first meeting of the group of researchers who belong to the consortium to implement the project EUROCONDOR coordinated by Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), leaded by Dr. Rafael Simó, head of the diabetes and metabolism group at VHIR, who coordinated the meeting and inaugurated it together with the director of VHIR, Dr. Joan Comella. This project, in which participate 18 hospitals and universities from 8 European countries, wants to prove that diabetic retinopathy more than a microangiopathy is a neurodegenerative disease. With this aim has been designed a prospective and randomized study in which will be studied if two neuroprotectors therapeutic agents (somatostatina and brimonidina) administered as collyrium can anticipate or delay the evolution of the diabetic retinopathy.During this first meeting, in which participated 40 researchers, there has been a review of the basic research that supports this clinical trial and a depth debate about the whole clinical protocol and the way of implementing it in all the participant countries. Much emphasis has been done in the safety topics, possible adverse effects, therapeutic fulfillment, analysis of efficiency and dissemination of the results.The first diabetic patient will be recruited in September 2012 and the foreseen duration is 2 years. This project gives a new vision of the physiopatology of the diabetic retinopathy and opens a new range of therapeutic possibilities based on the neuroprotection.