The arthritis drug Remicade is showing promise for the treatment of a potentially blinding eye condition called macular edema that can afflict people with diabetes, according to the results of a small study.

“The observed recovery of useful vision in eyes that are in danger of vision loss due to long-standing, severe diabetic macular edema was impressive, especially since the standard treatment with laser photocoagulation had previously failed,” Dr. Petros P. Sfikakis told AMN Health.

In the medical journal Diabetes Care, Sfikakis and colleagues at the University of Athens describe the cases of four women between 52 and 76 years, with type 2 diabetes and sight-threatening macular edema.

Diabetic macular edema had affected seven of the eyes for more than 12 months, and six of the eyes had not improved with laser treatment.

The women were given two monthly intravenous infusions of Remicade, two of them received one additional infusion, and one patient received two additional infusions. Remicade is a monoclonal antibody, known technically as infliximab, that targets an inflammatory compound called TNF-alpha.

After treatment, macular thickness decreased in five of the eyes, the investigators report.

During follow-up ranging from 4 to 7 months after the last infusion, diabetic macular edema returned, but at a less severe level, in two eyes. In the other three eyes, the benefit of Remicade treatment remained stable for up to 11 months.

“We are hopeful about this new therapy,” Sfikakis said, “but long-term effects and safety studies must still be completed. If confirmed, this can be regarded as a significant success… because of the bad prognosis of this condition.”

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, February 2005.