Collectively, angiogenic ocular conditions represent the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in developed countries. In the US, for example, retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration are the principal causes of blindness in the infant, working age and elderly populations, respectively. Evidence suggests that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a 40kDa dimeric glycoprotein, promotes angiogenesis in each of these conditions, making it a highly significant therapeutic target. However, VEGF is pleiotropic, affecting a broad spectrum of endothelial, neuronal and glial behaviors, and confounding the validity of anti-VEGF strategies, particularly under chronic disease conditions. In fact, among other functions VEGF can influence cell proliferation, cell migration, proteolysis, cell survival and vessel permeability in a wide variety of biological contexts. This article will describe the roles played by VEGF in the pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. The potential disadvantages of inhibiting VEGF will be discussed, as will the rationales for targeting other VEGF-related modulators of angiogenesis.

中文翻译：

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眼病中的血管内皮生长因子。

总的来说，血管生成性眼部疾病是发达国家不可逆转视力丧失的主要原因。例如，在美国，早产儿视网膜病变、糖尿病性视网膜病变和年龄相关性黄斑变性分别是婴儿、工作年龄和老年人群失明的主要原因。有证据表明，血管内皮生长因子 (VEGF) 是一种 40kDa 的二聚体糖蛋白，可促进这些疾病中的每一种情况下的血管生成，使其成为非常重要的治疗靶点。然而，VEGF 是多效性的，影响广泛的内皮、神经元和神经胶质行为，并混淆抗 VEGF 策略的有效性，尤其是在慢性疾病条件下。事实上，除其他功能外，VEGF 还可以影响细胞增殖、细胞迁移、蛋白水解、各种生物环境中的细胞存活和血管通透性。本文将描述VEGF在早产儿视网膜病变、糖尿病性视网膜病变和年龄相关性黄斑变性的发病机制中所起的作用。将讨论抑制 VEGF 的潜在缺点，以及针对其他 VEGF 相关血管生成调节剂的基本原理。