Lycium barbarum polysaccharides protects retinal ganglion cells against oxidative stress injury

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 15; no. 8; pp. 1526 - 1531
• Main Authors: Liu, Lian, Sha, Xiao-Yuan, Wu, Yi-Ning, Chen, Meng-Ting, Zhong, Jing-Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.08.2020; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Department of Ophthalmology, Affiliated First Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Apoptosis; caspase; cell apoptosis; cobalt chloride; lycium barbarum polysaccharides; mitochondrial membrane potential; oxidative stress injury; reactive oxygen species; retinal ganglion cells; Cobalt; Cobalt compounds; Diabetic retinopathy; Diseases; DNA; Eye diseases; Flow cytometry; Free radicals; Ganglion cysts; Glaucoma; Lipid peroxidation; Optics; Oxidative stress; Polysaccharides; Reactive oxygen species; Retina; China; United States > US; oxidative stress injury; mitochondrial membrane potential; reactive oxygen species; cell apoptosis; Lycium barbarum polysaccharides; retinal ganglion cells; cobalt chloride; caspase
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.274349

The accumulation of excessive reactive oxygen species can exacerbate any injury of retinal tissue because free radicals can trigger lipid peroxidation, protein damage and DNA fragmentation. Increased oxidative stress is associated with the common pathological process of many eye diseases, such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and ischemic optic neuropathy. Many studies have demonstrated that Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) protects against oxidative injury in numerous cells and tissues. For the model of hypoxia we used cultured retinal ganglion cells and induced hypoxia by incubating with 200 µM cobalt chloride (CoCl2) for 24 hours. To investigate the protective effect of LBP and its mechanism of action against oxidative stress injury, the retinal tissue was pretreated with 0.5 mg/mL LBP for 24 hours. The results of flow cytometric analysis showed LBP could effectively reduce the CoCl2-induced retinal ganglion cell apoptosis, inhibited the generation of reactive oxygen species and the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential. These findings suggested that LBP could protect retinal ganglion cells from CoCl2-induced apoptosis by reducing mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species.