Hu-Zhang-Qing-Mai-Yin Inhibits Proliferation of Human Retinal Capillary Endothelial Cells Exposed to High Glucose

Hu-Zhang Qing-Mai Formulation anti-oxidative stress alleviates diabetic retinopathy: Network pharmacology analysis and in vitro experiment

BACKGROUND

In this study, the potential mechanism of the Hu-Zhang Qing-Mai Formulation (HZQMF) on diabetic retinopathy (DR) in inhibiting oxidative stress was explored through network pharmacology analysis and in vitro experiments.

METHODS

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systematic Pharmacology Analysis Platform was used to retrieve the active pharmaceutical ingredients and targets of HZQMF. DR-related genes and oxidative stress-related genes were obtained from PharmGKB, TTD, OMIM, GeneCards, and Drugbank. STRING was used to construct a protein-protein interaction network to screen core targets. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses were performed using R 4.0.3. Network topology analysis was carried out using Cytoscape 3.8.2. Finally, we looked into how well the main API protected human retinal pigment epithelial cells from damage brought on by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

RESULTS

Quercetin (Que) was identified as the primary API of HZQMF through network pharmacology analysis, while JUN, MAPK1, and STAT3 were identified as the primary hub genes. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analysis showed that the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway may be crucial to the therapeutic process. In vitro experiments confirmed that Que increased cell vitality and inhibited apoptosis.

CONCLUSION

Que might significantly reduce H2O2-induced ARPE-19 cell injury by inhibiting apoptosis-related genes of the AGE-RAGE pathway (JUN, MAPK1, STAT3). This study lays the foundation for further research on HZQMF in treating DR.

The signaling pathways of traditional Chinese medicine in treating diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the common diabetic microvascular complications that occurs in the eyes and is closely associated with vision loss in working adults. However, the clinical treatment of DR is limited or accompanied by a large number of complications. Therefore, the development of new drugs for the treatment of DR is urgently needed. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used to treat DR in China, and its multi-pathway and multi-level characteristics can effectively address the complex pathogenesis of DR. Growing evidence suggests that inflammation, angiogenesis, and oxidative stress are the core pathological mechanisms in the development of DR. This study innovatively considers the aforementioned processes as the fundamental unit and sheds light on the molecular mechanisms and potential of TCM against DR in terms of signaling pathways. The results showed that NF-κB, MAPK/NF-κB, TLR4/NF-κB, VEGF/VEGFR2, HIF-1α/VEGF, STAT3, and Nrf2/HO-1 are the key signaling pathways for the treatment of DR by TCMs, which involved curcumolide, erianin, quercetin, blueberry anthocyanins, puerarin, arjunolic acid, ethanol extract of Scutellaria barbata D. Don, Celosia argentea L. extract, ethanol extract of Dendrobium chrysotoxum Lindl., Shengpuhuang-tang, and LuoTong formula. The purpose of this review is to update and summarize the signaling pathways of TCM in the treatment of DR and provide ideas for the development of new drugs against DR in the future.

Research Progress on Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the most important microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus, which can lead to blindness in severe cases. Mitochondria are energy-producing organelles in eukaryotic cells, which participate in metabolism and signal transduction, and regulate cell growth, differentiation, aging, and death. Metabolic changes of retinal cells and epigenetic changes of mitochondria-related genes under high glucose can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and induce mitochondrial pathway apoptosis. In addition, mitophagy and mitochondrial dynamics also change adaptively. These mechanisms may be related to the occurrence and progression of DR, and also provide valuable clues for the prevention and treatment of DR. This article reviews the mechanism of DR induced by mitochondrial dysfunction, and the prospects for related treatment.

Identification and Validation of Autophagy-Related Genes in Diabetic Retinopathy

BACKGROUND

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes, which is associated with damage of blood-retinal barrier and ischemia of retinal vasculature. It devastates visual acuity due to leakage of retinal vessels and aberrant pathological angiogenesis in diabetic patients. The etiology of DR is complex, accumulated studies have shown that autophagy plays an important role in the pathogenesis of DR, but its specific mechanism needs to be further studied.

METHODS

This study chose the online Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) microarray expression profiling dataset GSE146615 to carry on the research. Autophagy-related genes that were potentially differentially expressed in DR were screened by R software. Then, the differentially expressed autophagy-related genes were analyzed by correlation analysis, tissue-specific gene expression, gene-ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Finally, retinal pigment epithelial cell line (ARPE-19) incubated with high glucose (HG) was used to mimic the DR model, and the mRNA level of key genes was verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in vitro.

RESULTS

A total of 23 differentially expressed autophagy-related genes (9 up-regulated genes and 14 down-regulated genes) were identified by differential expression analysis. The analysis of tissue-specific gene expression showed that these differentially expressed autophagy-related genes were enriched in the retina. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed autophagy-related genes were significantly enriched in autophagy-related pathways such as regulation of autophagy and macroautophagy. Then 10 hub genes were identified by PPI network analysis and construction of key modules. Finally, qRT-PCR confirmed that the expression of MAPK3 in the DR model was consistent with the results of bioinformatics analysis of mRNA chip.

CONCLUSION

Through bioinformatics analysis, we identified 23 potential DR autophagy-related genes, among which the down-regulated expression of MAPK3 may affect the occurrence and development of DR by regulating autophagy. It provides a novel insight into the pathogenesis of DR.