Ginger-Derived Nanoparticles Deliver a VEGFA-Targeting DNAzyme and Modulate Retinal VEGFA Expression and Inflammatory Markers in Experimental Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose

To address the limitations of current anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapies for diabetic retinopathy (DR), which do not effectively inhibit VEGFA synthesis at the genetic source and provide only marginal improvements in the chronic inflammatory microenvironment, this study employs ginger-derived nanoparticles (GDNPs) to create a deoxyribozyme (DNAzyme) delivery system (GDNPs@Dz) targeting VEGFA mRNA. It further investigates the combined effects of this system on gene silencing and anti-inflammatory activity in an experimental setting.