Combination of Lactobacillus fermentum NS9 and aronia anthocyanidin extract alleviates sodium iodate-induced retina degeneration

It is important to explore the effective approaches to prevent dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, significantly decreased full-field electroretinograms wave amplitudes and disordered retina structures were detected in rat retinas of sodium iodate induced dry AMD model. Six a- and b-wave amplitudes and the antioxidant activities were significantly increased, and the outer nuclear layer thickness was significantly improved in the rat retinas treated with the combination of Lactobacillus fermentum NS9 (LF) and aronia anthocyanidin extract (AAE) compared with the model. The effects were much better than the treatment with AAE alone. The proteomics analysis showed the expressions of α-, β- and γ-crystallins were increased by 3–8 folds in AAE treated alone and by 6–11 folds in AAE + LF treatment compared with the model, which was further confirmed by immuno-blotting analysis. Analysis of gut microbial composition indicated that higher abundance of the genus Parasutterella and species P. excrementihominis was found in the AAE + LF treatment compared with the other groups. The results indicated that the combined treatment of AAE + LF is a potential way to prevent the retina degeneration which is significantly better than the AAE treated alone.