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Quercetin protects against diabetic retinopathy in rats by inducing heme oxygenase-1 expression
- Source :
- Neural Regeneration Research, Vol 16, Iss 7, Pp 1344-1350 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Quercetin is a widely-occurring flavonoid that protects against cancer, and improves memory and cardiovascular functions. However, whether quercetin exhibits therapeutic effects in diabetic retinopathy remains unclear. In this study, we established a rat model of streptozocin-induced diabetic retinopathy. Seventy-two hours later, the rats were intraperitoneally administered 150 mg/kg quercetin for 16 successive weeks. Quercetin markedly increased the thickness of the retinal cell layer, increased the number of ganglion cells, and decreased the overexpression of the pro-inflammatory factors interleukin-1β, interleukin-18, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in the retinal tissue as well as the overexpression of high mobility group box-1 and the overactivation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Furthermore, quercetin inhibited the overexpression of TLR4 and NF-κBp65, reduced the expression of the pro-angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and upregulated the neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor. Intraperitoneal injection of the heme oxygenase-1 inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin blocked the protective effect of quercetin. These findings suggest that quercetin exerts therapeutic effects in diabetic retinopathy possibly by inducing heme oxygenase-1 expression. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of China Medical University, China (approval No. 2016PS229K) on April 8, 2016.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16735374
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Neural Regeneration Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.5e0727bebc5a458883810b81a87eaaca
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.4103/1673-5374.301027