Protective Effect of Acteoside against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Damage in Human Corneal Epithelial Cells.

We studied the effect of acteoside on a model of human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) injury induced by HO. HCEC were divided into 4 groups and cultured for 24 h in normal medium (intact and control groups, respectively), or in a medium containing DMSO or 160 μM acteoside (DMSO and acteoside groups, respectively). Then, HO solution was added to HCEC for 4 h, except for intact cells. The cell viability was assessed by the CCK8 method to determine the working concentrations of acteoside and HO for further experiments. Quantitative PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the effect of acteoside and HO on the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The effects of these agents on cell proliferation were assessed by staining with 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU). It was found that acteoside protected HCEC against HO-induced damage by inhibiting the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO-1, and COX-2.