Studies have shown that the levels of caspase-1 and the inflammatory cytokine IL-18 are increased in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and the level of NLRP3 in the optic disc in the eyes of patients with PDR is higher than that in the eyes of patients with inactive neovascularization (Qi et al., 2014). This evidence concerns the gene IL18 and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.