For instance, Fan et al. (2012) observed in streptozotocin-injected diabetic rats pre-injected with hemin, a HO-1 inducer, that retinal ganglion cells were less prone to apoptosis compared to controls (not pre-treated with hemin), suggesting that HO-1 induction in rat retinas protected against diabetes-mediated neurodegeneration. The gene discussed is HMOX1; the disease is diabetes mellitus.