Published online Dec 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i12.2050
Peer-review started: July 7, 2021
First decision: July 28, 2021
Revised: August 9, 2021
Accepted: December 8, 2021
Article in press: December 8, 2021
Published online: December 15, 2021
Processing time: 161 Days and 21.5 Hours
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a serious and potentially blinding complication of diabetes mellitus.
We used an experimental animal model to find a more effective strategy for the treatment of DR.
The study aim was to evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of recombinant human maspin on neovascularization in DR.
An oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model in mice was used to simulate neovascularization in diabetic retinopathy. On postnatal day P12, 0.5 µL of 0.05 mg/mL recombinant human maspin was injected into the vitreous cavity of maspin injection OIR group mice. The protein and mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) in the retina were assayed. The numbers of vascular cell nuclei that broke through the inner limiting membrane were counted.
The results revealed that intravitreal injection of maspin inhibited neovascularization and reduced protein and mRNA expression of VEGF, HIF-1α in the retinal tissue of OIR model mice.
Maspin inhibited neovascularization of DR by modulating the VEGF/HIF-1α pathway, providing a potential and effective strategy for the treatment of DR.
Retinal neovascularization is one of the main pathological features of PDR. Inhibiting retinal neovascularization is a research focus.