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 H₂O₂. 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, H₂O₂ 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 H₂O₂ for further experiments. Quantitative PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the effect of acteoside and H₂O₂ 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 H₂O₂-induced damage by inhibiting the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO-1, and COX-2.