Abstract
Ischemic retinopathies (IRs) are the main cause of severe visual impairment and sight loss, and are characterized by loss of blood vessels, accompanied by hypoxia, and neovascularization. Actual therapies, based on anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) strategies, antioxidants or anti-inflammatory therapies are only partially effective or show some adverse side effects. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone present in vegetables and fruits that can be naturally supplied by the dietary intake and has been previously studied for its benefits to human health. It has been demonstrated that ABA plays a key role in glucose metabolism, inflammation, memory and tumor growth. This review focuses on a novel and promising role of ABA as a potential modulator of angiogenesis, oxidative status and inflammatory processes in the retina, which are the most predominant characteristics of the IRs. Thus, this nutraceutical compound might shed some light in new therapeutic strategies focused in the prevention or amelioration of IRs-derived pathologies.
Highlights
Ischemic retinopathies (IRs) are the main cause of severe visual impairment and sight loss, and are characterized by loss of blood vessels, accompanied by hypoxia, and neovascularization
IRs are biphasic diseases characterized by the loss of blood vessels, which is accompanied by hypoxia that in turn, induces a vasoproliferative phase in which aberrant immature blood vessels grow into the vitreous humor
It is importantly to highlight that Abscisic acid (ABA)’s anti-angiogenesis properties have not been studied in detail yet. This phytohormone present in vegetables and fruits that can be naturally supplied by the dietary intake has previously shown other benefits for human health in terms of glucose metabolism, inflammation and oxidative stress, all of them factors that are involved in IRs development and progression
Summary
Anti-VEGF strategies, which include neutralization by engineered antibodies, chimeric receptors, or laser treatment that alleviates ischemia, an important stimulus for VEGF expression, have been proposed as promising therapies [15,27]. Ketorolac a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug that inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandins or anti-IL-1 treatments have been tried in ROP [2]. Other molecules such as compounds with anti-TNFα properties in DR, or mTOR inhibitors in AMD have been proposed as anti-inflammatory therapies [2]. Antioxidants can protect retinal cells from microvascular degeneration in IRs, and supplementation with different compounds such as vitamin E, vitamin C, lipoic acid or different polyphenols (i.e., resveratrol) and carotenoids (among them, lutein and zeaxanthin, the main macular pigments) have shown promising effects for the treatment of these diseases [2,14,22]. Abscisic acid (ABA), a phytohormone most commonly known for inhibiting germination, could be an example of such a natural product with novel properties to explore in the treatment of inflammation-induced vasoproliferative disorders
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