Pharmacological roles of lncRNAs in diabetic retinopathy with a focus on oxidative stress and inflammation

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a complication caused by abnormal glucose metabolism, which affects the vision and quality of life of patients and severely impacts the society at large. DR has a complex pathogenic process. Evidence from multiple studies have shown that oxidative stress and inflammation play pivotal roles in DR. Additionally, with the rapid development of various genetic detection methods, the abnormal expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been confirmed to promote the development of DR. Research has demon-strated the potential of lncRNAs as ideal biomarkers and theranostic targets in DR. In this narrative review, we will focus on the research results on mechanisms underlying DR, list lncRNAs confirmed to be closely related to these mechanisms, and discuss their potential clinical application value and limitations.