Protection of Aronia melanocarpa Fruit Extract from Sodium-Iodate-Induced Damages in Rat Retina.

Yan Xing,Yuanyuan Zhao,He Ni,Shuo Yang,Shan Liang,Haihang Li

doi:10.3390/nu13124411

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the major causes of blindness in elderly populations. However, the dry form of AMD has lack of effective treatments. The fruits of Aronia melanocarpa are rich in anthocyanins. In this study, the protective effects of aronia fruit extract on rat retina were investigated using a NaIO3-induced dry AMD model. Full-field electroretinograms (ERGs) showed that b-wave amplitudes were significantly decreased and the retina structures were disordered in the model. The extract treatment alleviated the injuries. The b-wave amplitudes increased 61.5% in Scotopic 0.01ERG, 122.0% in Photopic 3.0ERG, and 106.8% in Photopic 3.0 flicker; the retina structure disorder was improved with the thickness of outer nuclear layer increasing by 44.1%; and the malonaldehyde level was significantly reduced in extract-treated rat retinas compared to the model. The proteomics analysis showed the expressions of five crystallin proteins, α-crystallin A chain, β-crystallin B2, β-crystallin A3, α-crystallin B chain, and γ-crystallin S, which protect retina ganglion cells, were increased by 7.38-, 7.74-, 15.30-, 4.86-, and 9.14-fold, respectively, in the extract treatment compared to the control, which was also confirmed by immunoblotting. The results suggest that aronia fruit extract, probably due to its anthocyanins, could protect the rat retina by alleviating oxidative damages and by upregulating the crystallin proteins to protect its nerve system.

Highlights

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is known as a progressive blinding disease.There are over 170 million people suffering from the AMD globally [1].While current treatment is effective for the neovascular or “wet” form of AMD, no therapy is successful for the non-neovascular or “dry” form [2]
Aronia Fruit Extract Protection of Rat Retina from the Damage Caused by NaIO3
The results suggested that the damage of retina induced by NaIO3 was alleviated in the AC group, and aronia fruit extract showed a potential protective effect on rat retina, especially on cone system

Summary

Introduction

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is known as a progressive blinding disease.There are over 170 million people suffering from the AMD globally [1].While current treatment is effective for the neovascular or “wet” form of AMD, no therapy is successful for the non-neovascular or “dry” form [2]. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is known as a progressive blinding disease. Dry AMD accounts for approximately 90% of the total number of people with this vision-threatening condition [3]. The characters of AMD development include progressive macular degeneration caused by oxidative damage of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which is associated with the degeneration of photoreceptors [4,5,6]. Research on the mechanisms of AMD suggests that the major damages of the disease are due to oxidative stress/damages to the RPE [4,5,6]. Some studies on the treatments of AMD focus on the suppression of oxidative stress using high doses of antioxidant vitamins and zinc supplements [7,8]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion