Abstract
Purpose :
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is usually affects people over age 65. There are two types of AMD: dry (atrophic) and wet (neovascular). The advanced stage of dry AMD characterized by geographic atrophy (GA) of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Sodium iodate (NaIO3) model widely used for induction of retinal degeneration. We aimed to investigate effect of quercetin on sodium iodate induced retinal degeneration in experimental sodium iodate induced GA mouse model.
Methods :
Dose dependent effect of NaIO3 on retina damage was determined by fundus photography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) at different times (Day 0, 7, 14, 24 and 56) after 10, 20, 30 and 50 mg/ Kg of NaIO3 injection. Quercetin was administered orally before and 7 days before and 7 days after injection with 30 mg/Kg NaIO3. Retina images were photographed after 7 days post injection in living mice and retinal layer changes and retinal cell apoptosis were investigated by histopathological and TUNEL assay. Furthermore, grail fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was detected by immunofluorescence and immune blotting.
Results :
Live imaging analysis using Fundus camera and OCT showed a RPE atrophy and the decrease in thickness of ONL and RPE at 30 and 50 mg/Kg NaIO3 injected mice after 7 days. Furthermore, Outer nuclear layer (ONL) was almost completely lost at 50 mg/Kg of NaIO3 injected mice after 56 days. Therefore, the protective effect of quercetin on retinal degeneration was evaluated using the mice injected by 30 mg/Kg of NaIO3 7 days after induction initiation. Live images shown that RPE damage and retina thinning. However, oral administration of quercetin was inhibited RPE degeneration. Histological analyses showed that restored RPE in quercetin treated mice by H&E staining and apoptotic cell detection with TUNL staining. Moreover, protein expression level of GFAP was inhibited by quercetin treatment.
Conclusions :
Our result suggest that the oral administration of quercetin protected RPE and ONL damage through inhibition of cell apoptosis and GFAP expression.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.