Diabetic Patients and Retinal Proliferation: An Evaluation of the Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been shown to play a major role in intraocular neovascularisation in ischaemic retinal diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of VEGF in vitreous, aqueous and epiretinal membranes of diabetic and non-diabetic patients, with other pathological conditions requiring surgical intervention. Higher VEGF concentration were found in samples from the eyes of diabetic patients versus other pathologies as well as in epiretinal membranes versus the other eye compartments in diabetic patients. However, high VEGF levels were also found in retinal detachment and proliferative vitreoretinopathy of non-diabetic patients. We concluded that VEGF is produced locally and plays a fundamental, but not specific, role in diabetic retinal neovascularisation and proliferation.

Immunohistochemical study of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor suppressor protein (p53) and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) in the conjunctiva of diabetic patients

“…VEGF is up-regulated by hypoxia and strongly expressed in ischemic retina such as DR; retinopathy of prematurity, central retinal vein occlusion, etc. (Aiello 1997a, 1997b, Casey and Li 1997, Nicoletti et al 2003. The level of VEGF was higher in the vitreous and/or aqueous humour of active DR than in quiescent DR (Nicoletti et al 2003).…”

“…(Aiello 1997a, 1997b, Casey and Li 1997, Nicoletti et al 2003. The level of VEGF was higher in the vitreous and/or aqueous humour of active DR than in quiescent DR (Nicoletti et al 2003). Thus the regulation of VEGF seems to be linked to the activity of DR and considered a predictor of severity in DR (Chakrabarti et al 2000, Nicoletti et al 2003.…”

“…VEGF, also known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), is known to play a crucial role in the development of nonproliferative (NPDR) and proliferative DR (PDR) (Larkins et al 1996, Chakrabarti et al 2000, Ciulla et al 2002, Lu & Adamis 2002, Nicoletti et al 2003. Human VEGF, a dimeric protein secreted by a variety of vascularized tissues, is a highly vascular endothelial cell-specific mitogen that has the ability to promote angiogenesis in several in vivo models (Quart 2001).…”

“…Human VEGF, a dimeric protein secreted by a variety of vascularized tissues, is a highly vascular endothelial cell-specific mitogen that has the ability to promote angiogenesis in several in vivo models (Quart 2001). High levels of VEGF protein found in the vitreous and/or in the aqueous humour of DR may predict the development of DR (Aiello 1997a, b, Boulton et al 1998, Noma et al 2002, Nicoletti et al 2003.…”

Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF): role in pathological processes

“…In vitro VEGF при вве-дении в мышечную ткань или кожу усиливает проницае-мость посткапиллярных венул и капилляров, вызывая фе-нестрацию эндотелия путем активации протеинкиназы С. Процесс фосфорилирования при участии этого фермента структурных белков межэндотелиальных плотных соеди-нений окклюдина и zona occluden 1 приводит к образова-нию «окончатых дефектов». Введение эксперименталь-ным животным ингибитора протеинкиназы С предотвра-щало данные изменения [22][23][24][25].…”