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Efficacy of various antioxidants in the protection of the retinal pigment epithelium from oxidative stress

Authors Kagan D, Liu H, Hutnik C

Received 19 June 2012

Accepted for publication 1 August 2012

Published 7 September 2012 Volume 2012:6 Pages 1471—1476

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S35139

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 3



Dov B Kagan, Hong Liu, Cindy ML Hutnik

Ivey Eye Institute, St Joseph's Hospital, London, ON, Canada

Background: Oxidative stress induced retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction is hypothesized to be fundamental in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study investigated whether vitamin C, vitamin C phosphate, vitamin E, propofol, betaxolol, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) protect human RPE cells from oxidative stress.
Methods: ARPE-19 cells were pretreated with the compounds under investigation. The chemical oxidant tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH) was used to induce oxidative stress. Cell viability was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.
Results: Exposure to t-BOOH resulted in a dose- and time-dependent reduction in ARPE-19 cell viability. Compared with cells given t-BOOH alone, vitamin E and NAC pretreated cells had significantly improved viability, propofol and betaxolol pretreated cells had no significant difference in viability, and vitamin C and vitamin C phosphate pretreated cells had significantly reduced viability.
Conclusion: Of the compounds studied, only vitamin E and NAC significantly mitigated the effects of oxidative stress on RPE cells. Because of their potential therapeutic value for AMD patients, these and other RPE protective compounds continue to merit further investigation.

Keywords: age-related macular degeneration, N-acetyl cysteine, vitamin C, vitamin E, propofol, betaxolol

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