HMOX1 and diabetic retinopathy: Furthermore, flavonoids have also been reported to prevent diabetes-associated microvascular complications such as protecting from diabetic retinopathy by improving the retinal SIRT-1 pathway, alleviating diabetic neuropathy via activation of Nrf-2/HO-1 and inhibition of nuclear factor K beta (NF-κB) as well as inhibition of advanced glycation end-products generation [64].