Recently, it was demonstrated that the T allele of SNP rs1617640 in the promoter of the erythropoetin (EPO) gene is significantly associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to increased EPO expression.
Erythropoietin has been recently found to be increased in the vitreous fluid from ischemic retinal diseases such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
Our data provide strong evidence that erythropoietin is a potent retinal angiogenic factor independent of VEGF and is capable of stimulating ischemia-induced retinal angiogenesis in proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
To explore the relationships between the aqueous and vitreous levels of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), interleukin-8 (IL-8), placental growth factor (PlGF) and erythropoietin (EPO) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and neovascular glaucoma (NVG).