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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
Characterization of a Novel Human Organotypic Retinal Culture Technique
Published on: June 9, 2021
Lonicerae Japonicae Flos attenuates diabetic retinopathy by inhibiting retinal angiogenesis
Lingyu Zhou1, Tianyu Zhang2, Bin Lu2
1The Shanghai Key Laboratory for Complex Prescription, The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, and The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; College of Pharmacy, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, China.
Ethnopharmacological Relevance:
Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (Jin-Yin-Hua) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine used for clearing away heat and toxic material.
Aim Of The Study:
This study aims to observe the attenuation of aqueous extract of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (FL) against streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic retinopathy (DR) and its engaged mechanism.
Materials And Methods:
STZ-induced proliferative DR (PDR) for 5 month in C57BL/6 mice was used in this study. Retinal vessels were observed by immunofluorescence staining with cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) and histopathological evaluation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) content. Cell proliferation was detected by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in choroid-retinal endothelial RF/6A cells. VEGF-induced tube formation in RF/6A cells was observed. The contents of chlorogenic acid (CGA), caffeic acid (CA), and luteolin in FL were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Results:
Histopathological evaluation demonstrated that retinal vessels were increased in STZ-induced PDR mice, whereas FL decreased such increase. The results of CD31 staining also showed that FL decreased the increased number of retinal vessels in STZ-induced PDR mice. In addition, FL reduced the increased serum VEGF content in STZ-induced PDR mice. FL reduced VEGF-induced RF/6A cell proliferation in the concentration-dependent manner, but had no obvious effect on RF/6A cell viability without VEGF stimulation. VEGF-induced tube formation in RF/6A cells was inhibited by different concentrations of FL. CGA, CA and luteolin all inhibited VEGF-induced tube formation in RF/6A cells, and the lowest effective concentration of CGA and CA was both 0.625μM, but of luteolin was 5μM. Furthermore, the results of HPLC demonstrated that the amount of CGA was the highest in FL.
Conclusions:
FL ameliorates STZ-induced PDR by inhibiting retinal angiogenesis. Phenolic acid CGA is the main compound contributing to the inhibition of FL on retinal angiogenesis.
