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Quercetin ameliorates hyperglycemia‐induced inflammation and apoptosis in the retina and lateral geniculate nucleus in a rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (688.8)
Author(s) -
Ibarra Jessica,
Bland Maia,
Gonzalez Muraya,
Garcia Carlos
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.688.8
Subject(s) - inflammation , diabetic retinopathy , medicine , diabetes mellitus , streptozotocin , endocrinology , quercetin , type 2 diabetes , apoptosis , proinflammatory cytokine , retina , biology , antioxidant , neuroscience , biochemistry
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and the leading cause of blindness worldwide. While the underlying mechanism of DR is not well understood, neuroretinal cell death due to apoptosis is implicated, with molecular abnormalities consistent with those seen in inflammation. The flavonoid quercetin has been reported to potentially have anti‐inflammatory properties in diabetic animal models. Few studies have examined the anti‐inflammatory effect of quercetin in type 2 diabetes (T2D), and none have investigated the physiological status of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), which connects the retina to the visual cortex. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of quercetin on diabetes‐induced neuroretinal inflammation and apoptosis in a rat model of T2D. Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats (ZDF) were assigned into diabetic (ZDF) and diabetic quercetin‐fed (ZDF+Q) groups. ZDF rats were fed a high fat chow while the ZDF+Q group received a high fat chow supplemented with quercetin (0.5%). Rats on standard chow served as the control group. The levels of inflammatory and apoptotic factors in the diabetic retina and LGN were measured by ELISA and immunoblotting. The major findings of this study demonstrate that quercetin, i) significantly (p<0.05) reduced increases in the pro‐inflammatory cytokines TNF‐α and IL‐1β and increased the anti‐inflammatory IL‐10, and ii) significantly decreased the concentration of BAD and Caspase‐3 and increased Bcl‐2. These results provide evidence that quercitin mitigates inflammation, which may be a precursor to cell signaling pathways leading to retina and LGN apoptosis in diabetes.