Retinoprotective Effect of Wild Olive (Acebuche) Oil-Enriched Diet against Ocular Oxidative Stress Induced by Arterial Hypertension

© 2020 by the authors.
Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ocular diseases, including hypertensive eye diseases. The beneficial effects of olive oil on cardiovascular diseases might rely on minor constituents. Currently, very little is known about the chemical composition and/or therapeutic effects of the cultivated olive tree’s counterpart, wild olive (also known in Spain as acebuche—ACE). Here, we aimed to analyze the antioxidant and retinoprotective effects of ACE oil on the eye of hypertensive mice made hypertensive via administration of NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester (L-NAME), which were subjected to a dietary supplementation with either ACE oil or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for comparison purposes. Deep analyses of major and minor compounds present in both oils was accompanied by blood pressure monitoring, morphometric analyses, as well as different determinations of oxidative stress-related parameters in retinal layers. Aside from its antihypertensive effect, an ACE oil-enriched diet reduced NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) oxidase activity/gene/protein expression (with a major implication of NADPH oxidase (NOX)2 isoform) in the retinas of hypertensive mice. Supplementation with ACE oil in hypertensive animals also improved alterations in nitric oxide bioavailability and in antioxidant enzyme profile. Interestingly, our findings show that the use of ACE oil resulted in better outcomes, compared with reference EVOO, against hypertension-related oxidative retinal damage.
This study was supported by Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía (2017/440; 2020/275; CTS-584), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Gobierno de España (Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020, Programa Estatal de I+D+i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad; PID2019-109002RB-I00), and VI PPIT Universidad de Sevilla (IV.7 Ayuda Suplementaria a Grupos de Investigación por captación de fondos en las convocatorias de proyectos de investigación del Plan Estatal; 2020/1163). AS is recipient of an FPU predoctoral fellowship from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (FPU17/03465). CR-G was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Ayudas para la Promoción de Empleo Joven e Implantación de la Garantía Juvenil en I+D+i 2017-2020 (PEJ2018-004474-A).