TY - JOUR AU - Long, Da AU - Kanan, Yogita AU - Shen, Jikui AU - Hackett, Sean F. AU - Liu, Yuanyuan AU - Hafiz, Zibran AU - Khan, Mahmood AU - Lu, Lili AU - Campochiaro, Peter A. T1 - VEGF/VEGFR2 blockade does not cause retinal atrophy in AMD-relevant models PY - 2018/05/17/ AB - Intraocular injections of VEGF-neutralizing proteins provide tremendous benefits in patients with choroidal neovascularization (NV) due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but during treatment some patients develop retinal atrophy. Suggesting that VEGF is a survival factor for retinal neurons, a clinical trial group attributed retinal atrophy to VEGF suppression and cautioned against frequent anti-VEGF injections. This recommendation may contribute to poor outcomes in clinical practice from insufficient treatment. Patients with type 3 choroidal NV have particularly high risk of retinal atrophy, an unexplained observation. Herein we show in mouse models that VEGF signaling does not contribute to photoreceptor survival and functioning: (a) neutralization of VEGFR2 strongly suppresses choroidal NV without compromising photoreceptor function or survival; (b) VEGF does not slow loss of photoreceptor function or death in mice with inherited retinal degeneration, and there is no exacerbation by VEGF suppression; and (c) mice with type 3 choroidal NV develop retinal atrophy due to oxidative damage with no contribution from VEGF suppression. Intraocular injections of VEGF-neutralizing proteins, a highly effective treatment in patients with neovascular AMD, should not be withheld or reduced due to concern that they may contribute to long-term visual loss from retinal atrophy. JF - JCI Insight JA - JCI Insight SN - 2379-3708 DO - 10.1172/jci.insight.120231 VL - 3 IS - 10 UR - https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.120231 PB - The American Society for Clinical Investigation ER -