Western blot analysis of homogenized retinal tissue revealed that diabetes significantly increased the protein levels of phospho-ERK1/2 (Figure 2B), the p65 subunit of NF-κB (Figure 2C), ICAM-1 (Figure 2D), and VEGF (Figure 2E) at 2 weeks after the induction of diabetes when compared with the retinas of non-diabetic control rats. Here, MAPK3 is linked to diabetes mellitus.