1. Matrine treatment reduces retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in experimental optic neuritis.
- Author
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Kang J, Liu S, Song Y, Chu Y, Wang M, Shi Y, Zhang F, and Zhu L
- Subjects
- Animals, Axons drug effects, Axons metabolism, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes drug effects, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes metabolism, Cell Death drug effects, Disease Models, Animal, Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental drug therapy, Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental metabolism, Inflammation drug therapy, Inflammation metabolism, Multiple Sclerosis drug therapy, Multiple Sclerosis metabolism, Optic Nerve drug effects, Optic Nerve metabolism, Optic Neuritis metabolism, Plants, Medicinal chemistry, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Retinal Ganglion Cells metabolism, Signal Transduction drug effects, Matrines, Alkaloids pharmacology, Apoptosis drug effects, Optic Neuritis drug therapy, Quinolizines pharmacology, Retinal Ganglion Cells drug effects
- Abstract
Inflammatory demyelination and axonal injury of the optic nerve are hallmarks of optic neuritis (ON), which often occurs in multiple sclerosis and is a major cause of visual disturbance in young adults. Although a high dose of corticosteroids can promote visual recovery, it cannot prevent permanent neuronal damage. Novel and effective therapies are thus required. Given the recently defined capacity of matrine (MAT), a quinolizidine alkaloid derived from the herb Radix Sophorae flavescens, in immunomodulation and neuroprotection, we tested in this study the effect of matrine on rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis. MAT administration, started at disease onset, significantly suppressed optic nerve infiltration and demyelination, with reduced numbers of Iba1
+ macrophages/microglia and CD4+ T cells, compared to those from vehicle-treated rats. Increased expression of neurofilaments, an axon marker, reduced numbers of apoptosis in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Moreover, MAT treatment promoted Akt phosphorylation and shifted the Bcl-2/Bax ratio back towards an antiapoptotic one, which could be a mechanism for its therapeutic effect in the ON model. Taken as a whole, our results demonstrate that MAT attenuated inflammation, demyelination and axonal loss in the optic nerve, and protected RGCs from inflammation-induced cell death. MAT may therefore have potential as a novel treatment for this disease that may result in blindness.- Published
- 2021
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