Endostatin prevents abnormal blood vessel growth

A research report published in the December issue of the FASEB Journal, describes a new experimental drug, endostatin, which can significantly reduce or eliminate abnormal blood vessel growth within the eye, thereby offering a possible treatment for advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Alexander Marneros and co-workers from the Harvard Medical School, US and Niigata University Postgraduate School of Medicine, Japan tested the effects of endostatin on mice lacking the naturally occurring substance and in normal mice. The mice without endostatin were found to be three times more likely to develop advanced AMD than normal mice.

The researchers concluded that endostatin functions as the body's own natural inhibitor of new blood vessel growth and thus presents a possible therapeutic option for macular degeneration.