Prior studies suggested that lncRNA MALAT1 was raised in the retinas of STZ‐induced diabetic rats, blockade of which alleviated retinal inflammation via reducing expression of ICAM, VEGF and TNF‐α 9; misregulation of VEGF was often observed in clinical or experimental diabetic nephropathy, involved in matrix accumulation and haemodynamic changes 28, 47. Here, VEGFA is linked to diabetes mellitus.