Therein, the hyperglycemia-induced damage to retinal pericytes leads to cell lysis, accompanied by the release of ATP into the extracellular environment, which in turn binds P2X7R on neighboring cells, activating the inflammasome and taking on the function of an inflammatory damage-signaling device via an autocrine/paracrine mechanism [25], resulting in a powerful trigger for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release, as described in the monocyte and macrophage activation pathway [7,26]. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is Hyperglycemia.