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Article History

Received: 8 August 2025

Accepted: 2 February 2026

First Online: 12 March 2026

Acknowledgements

: We gratefully acknowledge the authors and participants involved in all public data, including the AH proteomics data from Stanford University, scRNA-seq data of diabetic retinopathy mouse model from GSE150703, and plasma proteomics data from UKBB. AI-assisted tools were used. A large‑language‑model-based assistant (ChatGPT) was used only after the study design, data analyses and scientific interpretation had been completed, and solely to help improve English grammar, style and clarity of draft text written by the authors. Typical prompts included ‘please improve the readability of this methods section while preserving all technical details’. No AI tools were used to design the study, perform statistical analyses, select or transform data or draw scientific conclusions. All AI‑suggested wording was checked, edited and approved by the authors, who take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.

: The data used in this study can be obtained from the corresponding authors upon request.

: The authors would like to acknowledge the following funding sources: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U24A20707, 82271125, 82301260, 82301246 and 82301205); Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2023B1515120028); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024T170185); Brolucizumab Efficacy and Safety Single-Arm Descriptive Trial in Patients with Persistent Diabetic Macular Edema (2024-29); and the launch fund of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital for NSFC (8227041127). The sponsor or funding organisation had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

: The authors declare that there are no relationships or activities that might bias, or be perceived to bias, their work.

: JC, HY, XZ, MZ, XW Shang, XT Shen, MH, C-YC, and ZZ contributed to the conception or design of the work. JC, FL, HK, CL, ZD, ZDS, TS, CS, QL, YF, and YH contributed to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data. JC, FL, and HK drafted the article. HY, XZ, MZ, XW Shang, XT Shen, MH, C-YC, ZZ, CL, ZD, ZDS, TS, CS, QL, YF, and YH reviewed the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All authors gave final approval of the version to be published. HY, XZ, and MZ had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. HY is responsible for the integrity of the work as a whole.