Jiang F, Chong L, Du S, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to establish the concentration of VEGF165b and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the aqueous humor (AH) in diabetic eyes with or without diabetic retinopathy (DR) and discuss the predictive value of VEGF165b/VEGF ratio for DR progression. AH samples were obtained from 20 eyes in healthy controls (CON group), 40 eyes in diabetic patients without DR (nDR group), and 30 eyes in diabetic patients with mild non-proliferative DR (DR group). All participants in the study were followed up for at least 5 years. In diabetic eyes vs controls, mean concentration of VEGF165b significantly decreased. In DR group vs CON group, mean concentration of VEGF significantly increased. The VEGF165b/VEGF ratio is lower in DR patients' AH, and the reduced VEGF165b/VEGF ratio predicts DR progression.