Duloxetine protects against experimental diabetic retinopathy in mice through retinal GFAP downregulation and modulation of neurotrophic factors.

Duloxetine protects against experimental diabetic retinopathy in mice through retinal GFAP downregulation and modulation of neurotrophic factors. Exp Eye Res. 2019 Jul 22;:107742 Authors: Bahr HI, Abdelghany AA, Galhom RA, Barakat BM, Arafa EA, Fawzy MS Abstract Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is recognized as one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Searching and validation for a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent its progress are promising. This work aimed to assess the retinal protective effects of duloxetine (DLX) in Alloxan-induced diabetic mice model. Animals were equally and randomly divided to four groups (eight mice per group); group 1: is the control group, 2: diabetic group, 3&4: diabetic and after 9 weeks received DLX for 4 weeks (15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg), respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis revealed nerve growth factor (NGF), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) genes upregulation in the diabetic group compared to controls. Also, increased retinal malondialdehyde (MDA) and the decline of reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were observed. The morphometric analysis of diabetic retina revealed a significant reduction in total retinal thickness compared to control. Diabetic retinal immunostaining and Western blot analyses displayed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) proteins expression upregulat...
Source: Experimental Eye Research - Category: Opthalmology Authors: Tags: Exp Eye Res Source Type: research