VEGFA and diabetes mellitus: The VEGFA gene located in 6p21.1 is mainly expressed in thyroid tissue, and has been associated with severe retinopathy in type 1 diabetes, and glomerular microvasculature in diabetes, specifically due to islet vessel density, alteration in expression of genes regulating islet blood flow, insulin deficiency, and inflammation in intra-islet endothelial cells [42,43,44].