Diosmetin protects against retinal injury via reduction of DNA damage and oxidative stress

Abstract

Visual impairment is a global public health problem that needs new candidate drugs. <i>Chrysanthemum</i> is a traditional Chinese drug, famous for its eye-protective function, with an unclear mechanism of action. To determine how <i>chrysanthemum</i> contributes to vision, we identified, for the first time, the component of <i>chrysanthemum</i>, diosmetin (DIO), which acts in protecting the injured retina in an adriamycin (ADR) improving model. We observed that DIO could attenuate the apoptosis of retinal cells in Sprague-Dawley rats and verified this effect in cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, ARPE-19. Our further study on the mechanism revealed the counteractive effect of DIO on the attenuation of DNA damage and oxidative stress, which occurs in a wide range of retinal disorders. These results collectively promise the potential value of DIO as a retinal-protective agent for disorders that lead to blindness. In addition, we identified, for the first time, the component of <i>chrysanthemum</i>, DIO, which acts in protecting the injured retina.