Quercetin protects against diabetic retinopathy in rats by inducing heme oxygenase-1 expression

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 16; no. 7; pp. 1344 - 1350
• Main Authors: Chai, Guang-Rui, Liu, Shu, Yang, Hong-Wei, Chen, Xiao-Long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.07.2021; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Department of Ophthalmology,Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University,Shenyang,Liaoning Province,China%Department of Geratology,The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University,Shenyang,Liaoning Province,China; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: angiogenesis; diabetic retinopathy; flavonoid; heme oxygenase-1; inflammation; neurotrophin; quercetin; repair; Cytokines; Diabetes; Diabetic retinopathy; Growth factors; Health aspects; Hemoproteins; Prevention; Quercetin; Risk factors; China; repair; inflammation; angiogenesis; quercetin; flavonoid; heme oxygenase-1; neurotrophin; diabetic retinopathy
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.301027

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.