Abstract: Retinal neurodegeneration plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR), the leading cause of preventable blindness. In fact, the American Diabetes Association has defined DR as a highly specific neurovascular complication (Solomon et al., 2017). Therefore, it is no longer acceptable to consider DR as merely a microvascular complication. In this regard, the term diabetic retinal disease (DRD) has been proposed as a broader term comprising microangiopathy and neurodegeneration. However, there are currently no treatments available that directly target the neurodegenerative changes of DR. This paper will give new insights into the translational research in this field with particular emphasis on glucagon-like peptide 1/dipeptidyl peptidase IV (GLP-1/DPP-IV) inhibitors.