Background: In the East Asia, the genus Acer (Aceraceae) is a herbal medicine that is used to treat various diseases, including hemostasis, hepatic disorders, traumatic bleeding and poor eyesight. However, the effects of Acer palmatum thumb. on retinal degeneration are unknown.
Aim: In this study, we investigated whether Acer palmatum thumb.ethanol extract (KIOM-2015E) can protect eyes from retinal degeneration. Our research investigated whether KIOM-2015E could have a protective effect in the retinal degenerating mouse model induced by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU).
Materials and methods: Retinal degeneration was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of ENU in ICR mice. KIOM-2015E (100, 200 mg/kg) was orally administered once per day. The eyeballs were embedded and lysed after drug administration to examine the histological changed and protein expression levels.
Results: The ENU-induced retinal degeneration model exhibited increased photoreceptor cell death and a loss of the outer nuclear layer. Additionally, the expression of PKCα and OPN1SW was reduced, and that of GFAP and Nestin was increased in ENU-treated retinal tissues.
Conclusion: KIOM-2015E treatment ameliorated the ENU-induced retinal degeneration. KIOM-2015E prevents ENU-induced retinal degeneration by modulating protein expression and the thickness of the outer nuclear layer in the retina.
Keywords: Acer palmatum thunb; Anti-cell death effect; Herbal medicine; N-ethyl-N-Nitrosourea (ENU); Photoreceptor cell death; Retinal degeneration.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.