Journal
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Volume 46, Issue 5, Pages 672-679Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2008.12.006
Keywords
Curcumin; AMD; Light-induced retinal degeneration; Photoreceptors; Retina
Funding
- Knight's Templar Eye Foundation
- OU College of Medicine Alumni Association
- Foundation Fighting Blindness
- Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.
- National Eye Institute [EY12190, EY04149, EY00871]
- National Center for Research Resources [RR17703]
- National Cancer Institute [109247]
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex disease that has potential involvement of inflammatory and oxidative stress-related pathways in its pathogenesis. In search of effective therapeutic agents, we tested curcumin, a naturally occurring compound with known anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties, in a rat model of light-induced retinal degeneration (LIRD) and in retina-derived cell lines. We hypothesized that any compound effective against LIRD, which involves significant oxidative stress and inflammation, would be a candidate for further characterization for its potential application in AMD. We observed significant retinal neuroprotection in rats fed diets supplemented with Curcumin (0.2% in diet) for 2 weeks. The mechanism of retinal protection from LIRD by curcumin involves inhibition of NF-kappa B activation and down-regulation of cellular inflammatory genes. When tested on retina-derived cell lines (661W and ARPE-19), pretreatment of curcumin protected these cells from H(2)O(2)-induced cell death by up-regulating cellular protective enzymes, such as HO-1, thioredoxin. Since, curcumin with its pleiotropic activities can modulate the expression and activation of many cellular regulatory proteins such as NF-kappa B, AKT, NRF2, anti growth factors, which in turn inhibit cellular inflammatory responses and protect cells; we speculate that curcumin would be an effective nutraceutical compound for preventive and augmentative therapy of AMD. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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