Effects of FTMT Expression by Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells on Features of Angiogenesis

Emerging role of ferroptosis in diabetic retinopathy: a review

BACKGROUND

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a significant complication of diabetes and the primary cause of blindness among working age adults globally. The development of DR is accompanied by oxidative stress, characterised by an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a compromised antioxidant system. Clinical interventions aimed at mitigating oxidative stress through ROS scavenging or elimination are currently available. Nevertheless, these treatments merely provide limited management over the advanced stage of the illness. Ferroptosis is a distinctive form of cell death induced by oxidative stress, which is characterised by irondependent phospholipid peroxidation.

PURPOSE

This review aims to synthesise recent experimental evidence to examine the involvement of ferroptosis in the pathological processes of DR, as well as to explicate the regulatory pathways governing oxidative stress and ferroptosis in retina.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed literature available up to 2023.

RESULTS

This review included 12 studies investigating the involvement of ferroptosis in DR.

Activation of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-2 Ameliorates Retinal Cell Damage and Exerts Protection in in vitro Model of Diabetic Retinopathy

BACKGROUND

The major event in the development of diabetes-related blindness and vision impairment is the onset of retinal cell damage. Overall awareness of insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF2) mechanisms emphasizes its protective behavior in retinal cells that help to provide new information about the development of treatment for retinal complications.

OBJECTIVES

This study analyzes the effect of in vitro changes associated with the cell survival and rescue mechanism in IGF2 inhibition and activation using chromeceptin and IGF2 peptides in ARPE-19 cells cultured in high glucose conditions.

METHOD

Cell death was induced using high glucose (15 mmol/L), IGF2 inhibition was done using chromeceptin (1 µM) (Sigma Aldrich, Saint Louis, MO, USA), and IGF2 activation was done using IGF2 peptide (10 ng/mL). The cells were analyzed for changes in cell proliferation, apoptosis markers, antioxidant molecules, and alteration of cytokines.

RESULTS

The study demonstrated that cells lacking IGF2 exhibited a significant increase in reactive oxygen levels with apoptosis patterns. Also, gene expression analysis by qRT-PCR demonstrated a significant increase in Yes-associated protein 1, CDK2, TNF-α, and BIRC5 genes in cells under high glucose stress and IGF inhibition compared to control. Further, the cytokine analysis also revealed that cells devoid of IGF2 activated an increase in cytokines such as IL-8, CX43, ICAM-1, IL-17, CCL3, and MCP-1 and decreased paraoxonase compared to normal control cells. On the other hand, ARPE-19 cells grown in high glucose shows that IGF2 increases the survival genes with reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines.

CONCLUSION

The finding of the investigation, therefore, shows that the use of IGF2 activators may prevent the progression of ocular dysfunction in the control of diabetes-related complications.