FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified a protein that causes blood vessel leakage and swelling in the eyes of people with diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes, can cause severe vision loss or blindness.

According to a team at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, the finding could help in the development of new treatments for this and other eye diseases, as well as brain swelling caused by stroke, head injury and other conditions.

They analyzed vitreous (gel fluid in the eye) samples collected from 25 people. The team concluded that a protein called carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA-1) causes leakage of retinal blood vessels, which contributes to the retinal swelling (diabetic retinal edema) often associated with advanced diabetic retinopathy.

The study was published in the Jan. 28 online issue of Nature Medicine.

The researchers also identified other proteins that may play a role in causing blood vessel leakage in the eyes.

"By analyzing the protein composition in the human vitreous, we have identified a new group of molecules that may improve our understanding of the disease processes that contribute to diabetic retinopathy," lead investigator Edward Feener, a researcher in Joslin's section on vascular cell biology, director of Joslin's Proteomics Core, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a prepared statement.

"By studying the actions of these proteins in both the retina and the brain, we have shown that our findings may have broad relevance for neurovascular leakage and swelling," Feener said.

More information

The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about diabetic retinopathy.