Madurai, March. 28 (PTI): A 25-year-old researcher of Dr G Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute here has won "Outstanding Young Investigator Award in Basic Sciences", instituted by Singapore-based Asia-Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology(ARVO).

Murugeshwari's study on 'Diabetic Retinopathy and Eales', presented at the ARVO's four-day conference at Singapore from March 2, for the first time exhibited the presence of high levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor(VEGF) in patients affected by Eales, a release from the institute said here today.

"Among those affected by diabetics, it has been found that higher glucose levels led to a concomitant rise in VEGF levels that in turn induced new blood vessel formation within the eyes. This led to DR, a disease that affected eye sight. The discovery is that in people with Eales too, there is a high occurrence of VEGF".

The levels of 'Pigment Epithelium Derived Factor(PEDF)', an anti-angiogenic which maintains the stability of blood vessels, was found to be low among the Eales patients.

She established that Eales patients had high VEGF and low PEDF levels after studying 15 patients, who had undergone surgery for Eales.

Murugeswari, who is pursuing her PhD in 'Pathogenic Mechanism of Diabetic Retinopathy(DR)', is now studying the factors that induces high levels of VEGF among non-diabetic patients.