School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2020 Dec 30;2020:8868564. doi: 10.1155/2020/8868564. eCollection 2020.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment and blindness among the elderly. AMD is characterized by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell dysfunction. However, the pathogenesis of AMD is still unclear, and there is currently no effective treatment. Accumulated evidence indicates that oxidative stress and autophagy play a crucial role in the development of AMD. HS is an antioxidant that can directly remove intracellular superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide. The purpose of this study is to investigate the antioxidative effect of HS in RPE cells and its role in autophagy. The results show that exogenous HS (NaHS) pretreatment effectively reduces HO-induced oxidative stress, oxidative damage, apoptosis, and inflammation in ARPE-19 cells. NaHS pretreatment also decreased autophagy levels raised by HO, increased cell viability, and ameliorated cell morphological damage. Interestingly, the suppression of autophagy by its inhibitor 3-MA showed an increase of cell viability, amelioration of morphology, and a decrease of apoptosis. In summary, oxidative stress causes ARPE-19 cell injury by inducing cell autophagy. However exogenous HS is shown to attenuate ARPE-19 cell injury, decrease apoptosis, and reduce the occurrence of autophagy-mediated by oxidative stress. These findings suggest that autophagy might play a crucial role in the development of AMD, and exogenous HS has a potential value in the treatment of AMD.
年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）是老年人视力损害和失明的主要原因。AMD 的特征是视网膜色素上皮（RPE）细胞功能障碍。然而，AMD 的发病机制尚不清楚，目前尚无有效的治疗方法。大量证据表明，氧化应激和自噬在 AMD 的发展中起着关键作用。HS 是一种抗氧化剂，可以直接清除细胞内的超氧阴离子和过氧化氢。本研究旨在探讨 HS 在 RPE 细胞中的抗氧化作用及其在自噬中的作用。结果表明，外源性 HS（NaHS）预处理可有效减轻 HO 诱导的 ARPE-19 细胞氧化应激、氧化损伤、细胞凋亡和炎症。NaHS 预处理还降低了 HO 引起的自噬水平，增加了细胞活力，并改善了细胞形态损伤。有趣的是，自噬抑制剂 3-MA 的抑制作用增加了细胞活力，改善了形态，减少了凋亡。综上所述，氧化应激通过诱导细胞自噬引起 ARPE-19 细胞损伤。然而，外源性 HS 可减轻 ARPE-19 细胞损伤，减少细胞凋亡，并减少氧化应激介导的自噬发生。这些发现表明自噬可能在 AMD 的发展中起关键作用，外源性 HS 在 AMD 的治疗中具有潜在价值。
