Diabetic retinopathy: a matter of retinal ganglion cell homeostasis

<正>Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common complication of diabetes and the leading cause of visual impairment in the working-age population in the Western world (http://www.diabetesatlas.org/).One of the earliest events observed in DR is the impairment of retinal perfusion,caused by the constriction of retinal blood vessels,inducing biochemical and metabolic alterations,perycites/endothelial degeneration,and retina ischemia (Wong et al.,2016).Severe stages of DR include proliferative DR,caused by the abnormal growth of new vessels,and diabetic macular oedema in the central part of the retina.DR is strongly associated with a prolonged duration of diabetes,hypertension,and hyperglycaemia but it can persist even after replacement of normal glycaemic status (Wong et al.,2016).The fact that low-grade inflam-