Conversely, decreased expression of Sema3E aggravates inflammation and exacerbates disease severity by upregulating the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, notably of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) (Movassagh et al., 2017b; Kermarrec et al., 2019), which in turn can affect NV (Talia et al., 2016; Li and Zhou, 2019); concordantly, IL-17A plasma levels are high in DR and ROP (Sood et al., 2010; Semeran et al., 2013). This evidence concerns the gene IL17A and retinopathy of prematurity.