Interestingly, NAP seems to exert protective effects against both the neural and the vascular pathology induced by DR, as it reduced inflammation (D'amico et al., 2019) and apoptosis (Scuderi et al., 2014) as well as the levels of the α subunit of HIF-1 (HIF-1α) and VEGF in retinas of rats with STZ-induced diabetes (D'amico et al., 2017a). The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is diabetes mellitus.