Lycium barbarum
polysaccharides (LBP), extracts from the wolfberries, are protective to retina after
ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). The antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated
antioxidant pathway plays an important role in maintaining the redox status of the retina.
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), combined with potent AREs in its promoter, is a highly effective therapeutic target for the protection against
neurodegenerative diseases, including I/R-induced
retinal damage. The aim of our present study was to investigate whether the protective effect of LBP after I/R damage was mediated via activation of the Nrf2/HO-1-
antioxidant pathway in the retina.
Retinal I/R was induced by an increase in intraocular pressure to 130 mm Hg for 60 minutes. Prior to the induction of
ischemia, rats were orally treated with either vehicle (PBS) or LBP (1 mg/kg) once a day for 1 week. For specific experiments,
zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP, 20 mg/kg), an HO-1 inhibitor, was intraperitoneally administered at 24 h prior to
ischemia. The protective effects of LBP were evaluated by quantifying
ganglion cell and amacrine cell survival, and by measuring cell apoptosis in the
retinal layers. In addition, HO-1 expression was examined using Western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses. Cytosolic and nuclear Nrf2 was measured using immunofluorescent staining. LBP treatment significantly increased Nrf2 nuclear accumulation and HO-1 expression in the retina after I/R injury. Increased apoptosis and a decrease in the number of viable cells were observed in the
ganglion cell layer (GCL) and inner nuclear layer (INL) in the I/R retina, which were reversed by LBP treatment. The HO-1 inhibitor, ZnPP, diminished the LBP treatment-induced protective effects in the retina after I/R. Taken together, these results suggested that LBP partially exerted its beneficial
neuroprotective effects via the activation of Nrf2 and an increase in HO-1
protein expression.