As part of a study released in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 113 patients were examined using Detection of Apoptosis in Retinal Cells (DARC) to detect areas of the eye indicative of the retinal disease geographic atrophy.
The study was conducted by experts at Imperial College London.
“DARC (Detection of Apoptosing Retinal Cells) is a retinal imaging technology that has been developed within the last 2 decades from basic laboratory science to Phase 2 clinical trials,” according to the findings.
“It uses ANX776 (fluorescently labelled Annexin A5) to identify stressed and apoptotic cells in the living eye. During its development, DARC has undergone biochemistry optimisation, scale-up and GMP manufacture and extensive preclinical evaluation.”
In the study, the 113 participants were screened using the DARC approach, with a follow-up having occurred using optical coherence tomography scans to assess the eye’s health every six months for a span of three years.
Researchers believe their findings show that DARC technology may be used to predict who may be at risk of geographic atrophy.
“Early detection is a key defence against this disease but as symptoms develop over several years, the condition is often picked up once the disease has progressed to a more advanced stage,” researchers affirmed in a press release.
