L-Valine L-Phenylalanine L-Arginine

        Their work, published in the August issue of The American Journal of Pathology, L-Norvaline/L-NORVALINE_6600-40-4.html">l-norvaline is the first to make the connection between eye disease and arginase, an enzyme known to be a player in cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at MCG and Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

        "Inflammation of the blood vessel walls in the retina is some of the earliest eye damage that occurs in diabetes. This is like hitting the same system with a sledge hammer," Dr. Ruth Caldwell says. Short term, inflammation causes redness and irritation as it lays the groundwork for an unhealthy remodeling of blood vessel walls that restricts blood flow.

        Inside the diabetic eye, high glucose levels trigger inflammation and, in an apparent effort to fight it, arginase actually ends up contributing to inflammation and vascular disease as well. The crux of the problem seems to be too much competition for L-Arginine/L-ARGININE_74-79-3.html">L-arginine,l-serine an amino acid arginase requires to take any action ¨C good or bad, says Dr. William Caldwell.

        The retina, located at the back of the eye, is essentially an extension of the brain that receives light and transforms it to a neural impulse that travels back to the brain via the optic nerve. It can withstand assaults, such as elevated glucose levels that occur in diabetes, for years before vascular cells become damaged and die. That destruction spurs development of new blood vessels to deliver oxygen to oxygen-starved tissue but instead the proliferation blocks vision and they leak, increasing retinal damage.