Abstract
Danshensu, a traditional herb-based active component (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), has garnered attention, due to its safety, nutritional value, and antioxidant effects, along with cardiovascular-protective and neuroprotective abilities; however, its effect on the retinal tissues and functional vision has not been fully studied. The objective of this study was to analyze the protective effect of danshensu on retinal tissues and functional vision in vivo in a mouse model of light-induced retinal degeneration. High energy light-evoked visual damage was confirmed by the loss in structural tissue integrity in the retina accompanied by a decline in visual acuity and visual contrast sensitivity function (VCSF), whereas the retina tissue exhibited severe Müller cell gliosis. Although danshensu treatment did not particularly reduce light-evoked damage to the photoreceptors, it significantly prevented Müller cell gliosis. Danshensu exerted protective effects against light-evoked deterioration on low spatial frequency-based VCSF as determined by the behavioral optomotor reflex method. Additionally, the protective effect of danshensu on VCSF can be reversed and blocked by the injection of a dopamine D1 receptor antagonist (SCH 23390). This study demonstrated that the major functional vision promotional effect of danshensu in vivo was through the dopamine D1 receptors enhancement pathway, rather than the structural protection of the retinas.
Highlights
Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (S. miltiorrhiza or Danshen), a traditional medicinal herb in many Asian countries, has been widely used to improve blood circulation, resolve blood stasis, attenuate atherosclerosis, treat myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, renal and hepatic dysfunction, and coronary heart disease [1,2]
The protective effect of danshensu on the progression of vision deterioration was observed in an early phase of the experimental light-induced retinal photodamage model (Figure 1c)
Danshensu treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the rate of progression of vision deterioration compared to the vehicle group in the early condition of retinal photodamage (Figure 1c,d)
Summary
Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (S. miltiorrhiza or Danshen), a traditional medicinal herb in many Asian countries, has been widely used to improve blood circulation, resolve blood stasis, attenuate atherosclerosis, treat myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, renal and hepatic dysfunction, and coronary heart disease [1,2]. The chemical constituents present in S. miltiorrhiza are classified into water-soluble phenolic compounds and lipid-soluble diterpenoid compounds, whose pharmacological properties have been studied for more than 60 years. Salvianolic acid A (Sal A), and salvianolic acid B (Sal B) are phenolic caffeic acid derivatives, and idiographic water-soluble active components of S. miltiorrhiza. Dopamine deficiency has linked to pathological conditions of oculo-visual abnormalities, involving visual dysfunction, dynamic contrast sensitivity, color discrimination, and visual processing speeds that usually been described in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) [13,14,15], or diabetic retinopathy (DR) [15]. An animal study indicated that dopamine D1 or D4 receptor agonists could improve the functional vision of spatial frequency or contrast sensitivity in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy [16].
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