Review: adiponectin in retinopathy

Neovascular eye diseases are a major cause of blindness including retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration in which new vessel formation is driven by hypoxia or metabolic abnormalities affecting the fuel supply. White-adipose-tissue derived adipokines such as adiponectin modulate metabolic responses. Increasing evidence shows that lack of adiponectin may result in retinal neovascularization. Activation of the adiponectin pathway may in turn restore energy metabolism, to suppress the drive for compensatory but ultimately pathological neovessels of retinopathy. In this review, we will summarize our current knowledge of the role of adiponectin in eye diseases of premature infants, diabetic patients as well as the elderly. Further investigations in this field are likely to lead to new preventative approaches for these diseases.