Folic Acid Has a Protective Effect on Retinal Vascular Endothelial Cells against High Glucose

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe complication of diabetes, which seriously affects the life quality of patients. Because of the damage caused by DR, there is an urgent need to develop effective drugs. Folic acid, a water-soluble vitamin, is one of the vitamin B complexes. Folic acid is widely found in the meat and vegetables. In the clinic, low folic acid levels in the body may have a certain correlation with DR. However, there is no relevant basic research proving a relationship between folic acid levels and DR. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate whether folic acid has a protective effect on the retinal vascular endothelial cells against high glucose levels. Moreover, the molecular mechanism of action of folic acid was further explored. The results showed that folic acid significantly suppressed the cell viability, tube length, migrated cells and the percentage of BrdU⁺ cells compared with the high glucose group. Moreover, folic acid decreased the mRNA expression of TEAD1 and the protein expression of TEAD1 and YAP1. These findings indicate that folic acid can protect retinal vascular endothelial cells from high glucose-induced injury by regulating the proteins in the Hippo signaling pathway.