Table 3.
Changes of retina glial cells and neurons in DR
| Neural cell | Pathology | Cell density | Marker | Function | Signal pathway | Model | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Müller cell | Nuclear chromatin dispersion, nuclear granulation electrondense | ↑ | GFAP↑ | Proinflammatory | iNOS/COX2 | Rat/rMC-cells | [19, 70, 71, 74, 79–81, 84] |
| Angiogenic | PEDF | Rat | |||||
| Caspase-1/IL-1β | Rat | ||||||
| Wnt/β-catenin | Mice | ||||||
| p38 MAPK/NF-κB/IL-6 | Human Müller cells | ||||||
| Astrocyte | Axonal bundles are scanty, starlike cell bodies are irregularly distributed | ↓ | GFAP↓ | Anti-angiogenic | COX-2/EP3/PGE2 | Human | [70, 102] |
| Microglia | Cell bodies appear larger and bore long blunt ruffles with thin thread-like projections | ↑ | CD45, CD68, HLA-DR | Proinflammatory | MAPK | Rat | [107, 115, 116, 121] |
| Angiogenesis | P2 receptors/Ca2+ | Rat | |||||
| NF-κB/TNF-α, IL1-β | Mice/rat | ||||||
| Ganglion cell | Axonal swellings and associated constriction enlarged cell bodies, increased dendritic branches and terminals | ↓ | Thy1 | Neurodegeneration | ERK1/2/COX-2/PGE2 | Rat | [129, 136, 137] |
| MAPK | Mice | ||||||
| NF-κB | Mice |