Study: Long-Approved HIV Drug May Improve Vision in Patients with DME

A clinical trial suggests that lamivudinem, an inexpensive, long-approved HIV drug, can improve vision in patients with diabetic macular edema more effectively and at a lower cost than many existing treatments, according to researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA Health). Another potential benefit is the the drug is taken orally, offering patients an alternative to monthly injections directly into their eyes.

Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, founding director of UVA Health’s Center for Advanced Vision Science, and collaborators at Brazil’s Universidade Federal de São Paulo, led by Dr. Felipe Pereira and Dr. Eduardo Buchele Rodrigues, enrolled 2 dozen adults with DME in a small randomized clinical trial. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either lamivudine or a harmless placebo, in addition to injections of the drug bevacizumab into their eyes starting after four weeks.

Participants who received lamivudine showed significant vision improvements even before their first eye injections. Their ability to read letters on an eye chart improved by 9.8 letters at 4 weeks, while the participants receiving placebo saw their ability decrease by 1.8 letters. A month after the bevacizumab injections, the lamivudine recipients had improved by 16.9 letters, while the placebo group, receiving bevacizumab alone, had increased by only 5.3.

The results suggest that lamivudine may work both alone and in conjunction with bevacizumab injections, though larger studies will be needed to bear that out, the researchers say. 

To read the full UVA Health article, click here.