ABSTRACT
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective mechanism of lactucaxanthin against retinal angiogenesis in diabetic retinopathy.
Methods
Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were orally gavaged with either lactucaxanthin or lutein (n=12/group) for 8 weeks. Serum and retina collected from euthanized rats were subjected to assess oxidative stress, ER stress and inflammatory response.
Results
Lactucaxanthin administration was found to lower oxidative stress markers (protein carbonylation and lipid peroxidation) by augmenting antioxidant activity expression and ameliorated VEGF-A levels in diabetic group. Likewise, it suppressed the expression of ER stress (ATF4, ATF6, and XBP1), and inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-6, NF-κB, and ICAM-1) markers in diabetic retina. In addition, lactucaxanthin improved glucose tolerance and lipid profile under diabetic condition and suppressed the crosstalk between OS, ER stress, and inflammation.
Conclusion
Lactucaxanthin could be used as a promising therapeutic bioactive for treating DR condition, and retinal angiogenesis.
Expert opinion
Limitation of the study includes the sample size and the duration of treatment. Despite these limitations, this study has revealed the potential of lactucaxanthin in treating eye related diabetic complications. To validate the results obtained from this study, clinical study must be performed to understand the relative benefit of lactucaxanthin in DR treatment.
Acknowledgments
Anitha R. E. acknowledges the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India for awarding Junior Research Fellowship in the subject area of Nutrition Biology and DST SERB for financial support.
Authors’ contributions
Conception, Design of the work, Data acquisition, Analysis, Manuscript drafting: Rani Elavarasan Anitha, Rajasekar Janani, Muzaffar Jahangir Chonche and Vallikannan Baskaran.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethics approval
Institutional Animal Ethical Committee (CFT/IAEC No: 98/2017) of CSIR- Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India, have sanctioned and approved protocols to carry out experiments involving animals.