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Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of multiple etiologies characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion (type 1), insulin action (type 2), or both. Diabetes is a devastating disease as it causes long-term damage, dysfunction, and failure of various organs, such as the eye, kidney, brain, and peripheral nerves. Among these systemic complications, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most troublesome problems as it is a major cause of blindness. Almost 100% of type 1 diabetic patients and more than 60% of type 2 diabetic patients develop DR during the first two decades of diabetes (1). Great efforts have been made in the past decades to prevent or delay the onset of DR, as well as to prevent vision loss in diabetic patients. Intensive glycemic and blood pressure control, as established by the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS), can decrease the incidence and delay the progression of DR (2-7). Timely laser photocoagulation therapy can prevent the vision loss in a large proportion of patients with severe DR (8-12). However, laser therapy is associated with common adverse effects and high costs. Currently, there is no effective drug treatment for DR and thus, DR remains a leading cause of blindness in the industrialized countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]