Protective Effect of Effective Components of Nutt on Retinopathy of db/db Diabetic Mice.

OBJECTIVE

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the main diabetic microvascular complications in clinical practice, which features a complicated mechanism and insignificant efficacy. Therefore, it is urgent to find effective drugs. Xinjiang Nutt is a rare alpine wild plant with unique effects and extremely high medicinal value. Preliminary studies have shown that it can reduce elevated blood sugar, unhealthy lipids, and antioxidants. This study was intended to investigate the protective effect of the effective components of Nutt on the retinopathy of db/db diabetic mice and provide experimental basis for exploring the efficacy of Nutt and the development of new drugs for the treatment of DR.

METHOD

The db/db diabetic mouse models were used, and the effective components of Nutt were obtained from Nutt using macroporous resin enrichment method after alcohol extraction. These mice were divided into the normal group, model group, and high-dose Coreopsis Nutt groups, the positive drug metformin group, and the metformin and Nutt combination group. After these db/db type 2 diabetes mouse models were intervened for 10 weeks, their weight, blood sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin, serum MDA, SOD, and other indicators of each group were tested, and the expression changes of VEGF, ICAM1, PEDF, Bcl-2 in mouse retina were observed by immunohistochemistry method.

RESULT

The effective components of Nutt were obtained using macroporous resin enrichment method after alcohol extraction, which were mainly comprised of chlorogenic acid, flavone mariside, mariside, dicaffeoyl quinic acid, and flavone oxanine, with a total content of 532.82 mg/g, and the total flavonoid content of 330 mg/g. The effective components of Nutt significantly reduced blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin and improved oxidative stress levels in db/db diabetic mice. Meanwhile, they reduced the expression of VEGF and ICAM1 in retinopathy and increased the expression of Bcl-2 and PEDF. The combination of Nutt and metformin has the most significant effect.

CONCLUSION

Nutt can prevent and treat early diabetic retinopathy by affecting the expression of retinopathy-related factors.