Recent Progression of Pathogenesis and Treatment for Diabetic Cataracts.

Background: Cataracts are still the main cause of blindness worldwide. The incidence of cataracts in the diabetic population is 3-5 times higher than in healthy people. With the increasing incidence of diabetes and the development of aging, as well as the higher risk of surgical and postoperative complications of diabetic patients undergoing surgery, it is still necessary to study the occurrence and development mechanism of diabetic cataracts as well as potential therapeutic targets and therapeutic drugs.Methods: A retrospective review of the literature from PubMed (2017-2024).Results: We summarized the the current literature on the molecular mechanism and prevention and treatment of diabetic cataracts.Conclusions: The aqueous humor metabolism changes, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species generation increase, the conversion of polyol pathway, as well as non-coding RNA expression changes play important roles in diabetic cataract and these processes is closely linked with each other. Inhibitors or drugs target to these processes, such as aldose reductase inhibitors, antioxidants, natural flavonoid compounds, as well as nanotechnology-based therapeutic product, have shown promising prospects in the prevention and treatment of diabetic cataract.