Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Vegf) Induces Retinal Edema And Neuroretinal Dysfunction In Diabetic Rats

Purpose: The link between VEGF and visual dysfunction in diabetic macular edema (DME) has not been fully established. Previously, we have shown that VEGF induces both retinal edema and neuronal dysfuntion in non-diabetic (NDM) rats. Edema onset occurs at 24h post intravitreal injection of VEGF, but electroretinogram (ERG) abnomalities were observed at 48h post injection. The increase in VEGF-induced scotopic amplitudes at 48 hours was associated with a visual deficit, as measured by optokinetics. The current study investigates the effect of intravitreal VEGF upon retinal edema and neuronal dysfunction in diabetic (DM) rats by measuring retinal thickening and scotopic ERG responses at 48h post injection.Methods: Diabetes was induced in Sprague Dawley rats by streptozotocin (45mg/kg). After 4 weeks of diabetes, NDM and DM rats received IVT injections (5µL) of VEGF (10ng/µL) or saline (PBS …