Effects of high -concentration insulin on expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in cultured Muller cells in vitro

AIM: To study the effect of high-concentration insulin on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cultured rabbit retinal Muller cells in vitro. METHODS: Muller cells were cultured with insulin of different concentrations (4x10(3), 8x10(3), 12x10(3)U/L). Immunocytochemistry, 17 situ hybridization and ELISA were conducted to assay the expression of VEGF in cultured Muller cells in vitro at different insulin concentrations qualitatively and quantitatively. RESULTS: VEGF expression was enhanced obviously by high concentration of insulin. CONCLUSION: Insulin plays an important role in neovascularization of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by stimulating the transcription of the VEGF gene in Muller cells so as to enhance the expression of VEGF protein.