Protective Effect of Salvianolic Acid A against N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea-Induced Retinal Degeneration

OBJECTIVE: Retinal degeneration (RD) is a serious, irreversible, and blinding eye disease, which seriously affects the visual function and quality of life of patients. At present, there is no effective method to treat RD. The final outcome of its development is photoreceptor cell oxidation and apoptosis. Therefore, looking for safe, convenient, and effective antioxidant therapy is still the key research field of Rd. In this study, the mice model of RD was induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) in vivo to explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of salvianolic acids (Sal A) on RD. In vitro, the protective effect of Sal A on MNU injured 661 W cell line of mouse retina photoreceptor cone cells was investigated preliminarily. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice (7–8 weeks old) received a single intraperitoneal injection (ip) of 60 mg/kg MNU or vehicle control. Treatment groups then received Sal-A 0.5 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg via daily intravenous injections. On day 7, functional and morphological examinations were performed, including photopic and scotopic electroretinography (ERG) and hematological analyses to observe functional changes and damage to the outer nuclear layer (ONL). On the 3rd and 7th days, the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were determined. The expression of retinal Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 was quantified by Western blot and RT-PCR assays. 661 W strain of mice retinal photoreceptor cone cells were cultured in vitro and treated with 1 µm MNU. The cells in the treatment group were given 50 μM Sal A as an intervention. The growth of 661 W cells was observed and recorded under an inverted light microscope, and the activity of cells was detected by the MTT method. RESULTS: Sal A treatment was effective against MNU-induced RD in mice at both 0.5 mg/kg/d and 1.0 mg/kg/d doses, and the protective effect was dose-dependent. Sal A can alleviate MNU-mediated alterations to retinal ERG activity and can support maintenance of the thickness of the ONL layer. Sal A treatment increases the expression of retinal SOD and reduces the lipid peroxidation product MDA, suggesting that its protective effect is related to the oxidation resistance. It can offset changes to the expression of apoptotic factors in the retina caused by MNU treatment. Sal A mitigates MNU-mediated damage to cultured mice photoreceptor cone cells 661 W in vitro. CONCLUSION: Sal A alleviates the damage caused by MNU to retinal photoreceptor cells in vivo and in vivo, and its protective effect is related to its antioxidant and antiapoptotic activities.