Evogliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, attenuates pathological retinal angiogenesis by suppressing vascular endothelial growth factor-induced Arf6 activation

Endothelial dysfunction in vascular complications of diabetes: a comprehensive review of mechanisms and implications

Diabetic vascular complications are prevalent and severe among diabetic patients, profoundly affecting both their quality of life and long-term prospects. These complications can be classified into macrovascular and microvascular complications. Under the impact of risk factors such as elevated blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol lipids, the vascular endothelium undergoes endothelial dysfunction, characterized by increased inflammation and oxidative stress, decreased NO biosynthesis, endothelial-mesenchymal transition, senescence, and even cell death. These processes will ultimately lead to macrovascular and microvascular diseases, with macrovascular diseases mainly characterized by atherosclerosis (AS) and microvascular diseases mainly characterized by thickening of the basement membrane. It further indicates a primary contributor to the elevated morbidity and mortality observed in individuals with diabetes. In this review, we will delve into the intricate mechanisms that drive endothelial dysfunction during diabetes progression and its associated vascular complications. Furthermore, we will outline various pharmacotherapies targeting diabetic endothelial dysfunction in the hope of accelerating effective therapeutic drug discovery for early control of diabetes and its vascular complications.

CD8+T Cell-Related Gene Biomarkers in Macular Edema of Diabetic Retinopathy

BACKGROUND

CD8+T lymphocytes have a strong pro-inflammatory effect in all parts of the tissue, and some studies have demonstrated that its concentration in the vitreous increased significantly, suggesting that CD8+T cells play a pivotal role in the inflammatory response of diabetic retinopathy (DR). However, the infiltration of CD8+T cells in the DR retina, especially in diabetic macular edema (DME), and its related genes are still unclear.

METHODS

Download the GSE16036 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The ImmuCellAI program was performed to evaluate the abundance of 24 immune cells including CD8+T cells. The CD8+T cell-related genes (DECD8+TRGs) between non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and DME were detected via difference analysis and correlation analysis. Enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network mapping were implemented to explore the potential function of DECD8+TRGs. Lasso regression, support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE), CytoHubba plug-in and MCODE plug-in in Cytoscape software, and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) were performed to comprehensively analyze and obtain Hub DECD8+TRGs. Hub DECD8+TRGs expression patterns were further validated in other two DR-related independent datasets. The CD8+TRG score was defined as the genetic characterization of Hub DECD8+TRGs using the GSVA sample scoring method, which can be administered to distinguish early and advanced diabetic nephropathy (DN) as well as normal and DN. Finally, the transcription level of DECD8+TRGs in DR model mouse were verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR).

RESULTS

A total of 371 DECD8+TRGs were identified, of which 294 genes were positively correlated and only 77 genes were negatively correlated. Eight genes (IKZF1, PTPRC, ITGB2, ITGAX, TLR7, LYN, CD74, SPI1) were recognized as Hub DECD8+TRGs. DR and DN, which have strong clinical correlation, have been proved to be associated with CD8+T cell-related hub genes by multiple independent data sets. Hub DECD8+TRGs can not only distinguish PDR from normal and DN from normal, but also play a role in the early and progressive stages of the two diseases (NPDR vs DME, Early DN vs Advanced DN). The qPCR transcription level and trend of Hub DECD8+TRGs in DR mouse model was basically the same as that in human transcriptome.

CONCLUSION

This study not only increases our understanding of the molecular mechanism of CD8+T cells in the progression of DME, but also expands people's cognitive vision of the molecular mechanism of crosstalk of CD8+T cells in the eyes and kidneys of patients with diabetes.