Stem cells show promise for fixing diabetic eye damage
NCT ID NCT03403699
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This early-stage study explores whether stem cells made from a person's own blood can help repair damaged blood vessels in the eye caused by diabetic retinopathy. Researchers will create these stem cells in a lab and test them in animals to see if they can grow new, healthy blood vessels. The study involves 20 participants and is focused on understanding how the cells work, not yet on treating people directly.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2018
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Patients who have retinal abnormalities other than diabetic retinopathy will be excluded. Patients who have history of malignant disease or hematologic disorder. We will record medications that the patient is taking at the time of biopsy. Baseline characteristics will also be recorded, including age, lipid parameters, body mass index, blood pressure, smoking history, antioxidant intake and use of nutritional supplements.
- Ages
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21 to 98 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Any man or woman between the ages of 21- 98 years of age will be eligible to participate. To participate in the study as a study subject we will require: a) the subject must either carry the diagnosis of diabetes or be a healthy aged control and b) the patient be willing and have the ability to cooperate with the eye exam and skin punch biopsy protocol. Exclusion Criteria: * We will apply the following exclusion criteria: a) evidence of ongoing acute or chronic infection (HIV, Hepatitis B or C, tuberculosis); b) ongoing malignancy; c) cerebral vascular accident or cerebral vascular procedure; d) current pregnancy; e) history of organ transplantation; f) presence of a graft (to avoid any effect of the graft on inflammatory parameters; and g) patients with anemia. Subjects with AMD, glaucoma, uveitis, known hereditary degenerations or other significant ocular complications other than diabetic retinopathy will be excluded.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Alabama at Birmingham
RECRUITINGBirmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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