Effects of a New Combination of Natural Extracts on Glaucoma-Related Retinal Degeneration

Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is currently the leading cause of irreversible blindness; it is a neuropathy characterized by structural alterations of the optic nerve, leading to visual impairments. The aim of this work is to develop a new oral formulation able to counteract the early changes connected to glaucomatous degeneration. The composition is based on gastrodin and vitamin D3 combined with vitamin C, blackcurrant, and lycopene. Methods: Cells and tissues of the retina were used to study biological mechanisms involved in glaucoma, to slow down the progression of the disease. Experiments mimicking the conditions of glaucoma were carried out to examine the etiology of retinal degeneration. Results: Our results show a significant ability to restore glaucoma-induced damage, by counteracting ROS production and promoting cell survival by inhibiting apoptosis. These effects were confirmed by the intracellular mechanism that was activated following administration of the compound, either before or after the glaucoma induction. In particular, the main results were obtained as a preventive action of glaucoma, showing a beneficial action on all selected markers, both on cells and on eyecup preparations. It is therefore possible to hypothesize both the preventive and therapeutic use of this formulation, in the presence of risk factors, and due to its ability to inhibit the apoptotic cycle and to stimulate cell survival mechanisms, respectively. Conclusion: This formulation has exhibited an active role in the prevention or restoration of glaucoma damage for the first time.

Gastrodin represses hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in retinal pigment epithelial cells through p38MAPK/iNOS pathway

“…In this study, H 2 O 2 -induced ARPE-19 cells showed an increased ROS and MDA and reduced SOD and GSH, thus promoting oxidative stress. A previous study has shown that gastrodin attenuates cell viability and increases ROS levels in H 2 O 2 -induced retinal ganglion cells (Molinari et al, 2021). In this study, the levels of ROS and MDA in H 2 O 2 -induced ARPE-19 cells were down-regulated by gastrodin, whereas SOD and GSH were upregulated, indicating an antioxidant effect on AMD-associated RPE.…”

“…Therefore, traditional Chinese herbs with antioxidant capacity are widely used in the clinical prevention of AMD (Jin et al, 2018;Li et al, 2021). Gastrodin, isolated from Gastrodia elata Blume, exerted antioxidant effect against retinal neurodegenerative diseases (Wang et al, 2017), high glucose-induced retinal endothelial cell apoptosis (Zhang et al, 2018), and glaucoma-related retinal degeneration (Molinari et al, 2021). This study investigated the role of gastrodin in AMD-associated RPE dysfunction.…”

“…Gastrodin repressed the high glucose-induced cell apoptosis of human retinal endothelial cell (Zhang et al, 2018) and it attenuated hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and N-methyl-D-aspartate. Leading to decreased cell viability and increased ROS levels in retinal ganglion cells, thus ameliorating glaucoma-related retinal degeneration (Molinari et al, 2021). However, the role and related mechanism of gastrodin in AMD is still unclear.…”

Developing New Cyclodextrin-Based Nanosponges Complexes to Improve Vitamin D Absorption in an In Vitro Study

“…The quantification of superoxide anion release was obtained following a standard protocol based on the reduction in cytochrome C [ 38 ], and the absorbance in culture supernatants was measured at 550 nm using the spectrophotometer (Infinite 200 Pro MPlex, Tecan, Männedorf, Switzerland). Specifically, 100 μL of cytochrome C (Merck, Milan, Italy) was added to all the wells, while 100 μL of superoxide dismutase (Merck, Milan, Italy) and 100 μL of cytochrome C were added to empty wells and the plate was then incubated for 30 min.…”

Ovotransferrin Supplementation Improves the Iron Absorption: An In Vitro Gastro-Intestinal Model

“…Briefly, in a 96 well plate, the level of SOD present on 3D cell lysates was measured by comparing data to a standard curve (0.05–0.005 U/mL). The absorbance of all samples was measured through a spectrometer (VICTOR × 4 multilabel plate reader) at 480 nm and the results are expressed as a means (%) compared to control [ 37 ].…”