Antioxidative Effects of Ascorbic Acid and Astaxanthin on ARPE-19 Cells in an Oxidative Stress Model

• Published in: Antioxidants Vol. 9; no. 9; p. 833
• Main Authors: Oh, Sanghyeon, Kim, Young Joo, Lee, Eun Kyoung, Park, Sung Wook, Yu, Hyeong Gon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Aging; antioxidant; Antioxidants; Ascorbic acid; Astaxanthin; Cell viability; Defense mechanisms; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; DNA; Etiology; Free radicals; Gene expression; Glucose; Health aspects; Hydrogen peroxide; Hyperglycemia; Lethal dose; Oxidative stress; Pathogenesis; Phenols; Reactive oxygen species; retinal pigment epithelium; Retinopathy; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; South Korea; United States > US
• ISSN: 2076-3921; 2076-3921
• DOI: 10.3390/antiox9090833

Oxidative stress has been implicated as critical pathogenic factors contributing to the etiology of diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases. This study investigated antioxidative effect of ascorbic acid and astaxanthin on ARPE-19 cells within an oxidative stress model induced by common biological sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at concentrations of 0.1–0.8 mM and 20–100 mJ/cm2 of ultraviolet B (UVB) were treated to ARPE-19 cells. Cell viability and intracellular ROS level changes were measured. With the sublethal and lethal dose of each inducers, 0–750 μM of ascorbic acid and 0–40 μM of astaxanthin were treated to examine antioxidative effect on the model. Ascorbic acid at concentrations of 500 and 750 μM increased the cell viability not only in the UVB model but also in the H2O2 model, but 20 and 40 μM of astaxanthin only did so in the UVB model. The combination of ascorbic acid and astaxanthin showed better antioxidative effect compared to each drug alone, suggesting a synergistic effect.