Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding disease that annually affects about 15,000 babies. Newborn babies with this condition quickly develop new blood vessels that turn to be fragile and leaky to compensate for the oxygen-starved areas of the retina.

According to the National Eye Institute, retinopathy of prematurity affects infants weighing less than 2.75 pounds who are born within the first 31 weeks of pregnancy - more than 1,000 require medical treatment and about 500 become legally blind.

A protein - insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) - has long been known to play a key role for a healthy eyesight has now been discovered by researchers at the University of Florida and Harvard Medical School to have the potential to lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing - as a new target for therapies for retinopathy of prematurity.

According to Dr. Maria B. Grant, a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics at UF's College of Medicine:

"We've identified a protein that is part of the body's natural defenses in oxygen-deprived conditions. When babies are born before levels of this protein are normal, blood vessels spread abnormally throughout the retina. But if we can increase the protein to more normal levels in premature babies, it should result in healthier blood vessel growth."

The findings are described in separate, back-to-back papers published in the June 19 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to Dr. Lois E.H. Smith, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the Harvard study:

"The implications for retinopathy are that IGFBP-3 appears to have benefit in preventing vessel loss independent of insulin-like growth factor-1 in both the mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy and in infants with retinopathy of prematurity.

Supplementation to increase IGFBP-3 in premature infants at risk for ROP to normal levels in utero may prove beneficial in this disease.

Find more details from the full report.