Figure 3. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in retinae after intravitreous injection. A: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA in paired control retinae increased with time to almost twice that in the normal control eyes after 6 months. Similarly, the amount of VEGF mRNA in the retinae of all treatment groups was statistically higher than the amount in normal retinae but was significantly lower than the amount in the respective paired control eyes (p<0.01). B: The expression of VEGF protein in treated retinae paralleled the expression of VEGF mRNA. Values of treatment were compared to that of normal control * p value <0.05, ** p value<0.01. Values of treatment were compared to that of paired control # p value <0.01. Abbreviations: DM1 represents diabetes 1 month, DM3 represents diabetes 3 months, DM6 represents diabetes 6 months, CON represents normal control group, CONf represents sham-injected normal control group, t represents treatment.