Polyphenols and Posterior Segment Eye Diseases: Effects on Angiogenesis, Invasion, Migration and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

ABSTRACT

Posterior segment eye diseases are a major cause of visual impairment worldwide. If left untreated, most of them lead to partial or complete blindness. The formation of new pathological blood vessels, known as angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and associated with them invasion and migration of cells belong to the mechanisms responsible for the development of these ocular disorders. Polyphenols, whose sources are fruits and vegetables, have a lot of pro-health properties, such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidative activity. This review discusses anti-angiogenic, anti-invasive, anti-migratory activities of individual polyphenolic compounds and their ability to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition in posterior segment eye diseases. The results of studies presented in this paper show that polyphenols may be an effective and safe component of the human diet used to limit the development and progression of posterior segment eye diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• angiogenesis
• EMT
• eye diseases
• MMP
• phenolic compounds
• retina
• VEGF

Abbreviations

AMD, age-related macular degeneration; CNV, choroidal neovascularization; DR, diabetic retinopathy; EGCG, epigallocatechin gallate; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; HIF-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; HRPECs, human retinal pigment epithelial cells; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor

Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants No. POWR.03.05.00-00-z065/17 and No. 503/1-156-04/503-11-001 from the Medical University of Lodz, Poland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Inhibitory effect

1 – Chebulagic acid, Chebulinic acid, Curcumin, EGCG, Quercetin, Resveratrol

2 – Caffeic acid phenethyl ester, Gambogic acid, Kaempferol

3 – Apigenin, Caffeic acid phenethyl ester, Chrysin, Curcumin, Cyanidin, EGCG, Fisetin, Gambogic acid, Kaempferol, Luteolin, Myricetin, Quercetin, Resveratrol

4 – Chlorogenic acid

5 – Apigenin, Chebulagic acid, Chebulinic acid, Chlorogenic acid, Chrysin, Curcumin, Cyanidin, EGCG, Erianin, Kaempferol, Luteolin, Myricetin, Quercetin, Resveratrol, Scutellarin

AKT – protein kinase B; ERK1/2 – extracellular-signal regulated kinase; MEK– MAPK/ERK kinase; PI3K – phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; SMAD – mothers against decapentaplegic homolog; TGF-β – transforming growth factor β; VEGF– vascular endothelial growth factor