To evaluate the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) in vitreous body and serum in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and investigate the role of EC-SOD in PDR by evaluating its angiostatic effect, using an in vitro angiogenesis model. This evidence concerns the gene SOD3 and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.