Figure 1. Effect of intravitreally injected genistein on Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced retinal inflammation and microglial activation. 2-weeks diabetic rats were treated with genistein (50 µM) or vehicle (0.05% DMSO) intraocularly. 48 h later rats were killed and their retinal and vitreal samples were processed for Quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT–PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses, respectively, (n=6). A: qRT–PCR analysis for TNF-α expression in diabetic rat retinas after 48 h treatment with genistein or vehicle intraocularly. The level of gene expression was presented as the mean fold change±SD relative to normal non-diabetic rats. B: ELISA analysis of vitreal TNF-α release in vitreous and expressed as absolute value±SD C: Representative images show the colocalization of TNF-α with glial markers in the retina of 2-weeks diabetic rats. Iba-1 (red), a marker of activated microglia; glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; red), a marker of astrocytes or activated Müller cells. Yellow displayed from merged red and green. Scale bar represents 20 μm. Abbreviations:OPL indicates outer plexiform layer; GCL indicates ganglion cell layer; (magnification, 200×). D: Effect of intravitreally injected genistein on microglial activation assayed by Iba1 mRNA expression using qRT–PCR. The level of gene expression was presented as the mean fold change±SD relative to normal non-diabetic rats.