Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a secondary complication of diabetes that can lead to visual impairment and blindness. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a monolayer of pigment cells that forms the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) via tight junction (TJ) proteins and plays a crucial role in the physiological function of the retina. Hyperglycemia induces RPE death and BRB breakdown, which accelerates the process of DR. Curcumin, an active extract of Curcuma longa , has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and neuroprotective properties. However, the effect of Curcumin on the BRB under high glucose conditions remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Curcumin on RPE physiology in vitro and in vivo . Curcumin significantly alleviated cell viability inhibition under high glucose conditions. Moreover, high glucose reduced extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Akt pathways activation to diminish RPE cell growth but reversed by Curcumin treatment. Curcumin protected not only TJ integrity but also retinoid regeneration through TJ proteins and isomerase modulation in diabetic retina. Furthermore, Curcumin decreased the expression of angiogenic factor to inhibit retinal neovascularization. Finally, Curcumin treatment markedly reduced apoptosis during hyperglycemia. In conclusion, Curcumin can alleviate the progression of DR by promoting RPE survival, TJ integrity, retinoid isomerase activity, RPE senescence inhibition, and neovascularization. Therefore, Curcumin exhibits high potential for use as a therapeutic agent for early DR.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ejpi.EJPI-D-23-00035 | DOI Listing |
Cell Mol Life Sci
January 2025
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, Unitat de Farmacologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII 27-31, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
Nuclear growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) reduces the binding of the mothers' against decapentaplegic homolog (SMAD) complex to its DNA-binding elements. However, the stimuli that control this process are unknown. Here, we examined whether saturated fatty acids (FA), particularly palmitate, regulate nuclear GDF15 levels and the activation of the SMAD3 pathway in human skeletal myotubes and mouse skeletal muscle, where most insulin-stimulated glucose use occurs in the whole organism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetologia
January 2025
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
The incidence of type 2 diabetes has risen globally, in parallel with the obesity epidemic and environments promoting a sedentary lifestyle and low-quality diet. There has been scrutiny of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) as a driver of type 2 diabetes, underscored by their increasing availability and intake worldwide, across countries of all incomes. This narrative review addresses the accumulated evidence from investigations of the trends in UPF consumption and the relationship with type 2 diabetes incidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChem Biodivers
January 2025
Yangzhou University, College of Food Science and Engineering, Huayang west road, 225127, Yangzhou, CHINA.
The Lentinus edodes polysaccharide (LEP) was extracted with a new subcritical water extraction (SWE) enhanced with deep eutectic solvent (DES) method and then purified with a DEAE-52 cellulose column and a Sephadex G-100 column. Two purified polysaccharides (LEP1 and LEP2) were obtained and their structure, antioxidant activity, and immunomodulatory activity were analyzed. LEP1 and LEP2 were composed of mannose, glucose, and galactose with a molar ratio of 1:12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZhongguo Dang Dai Er Ke Za Zhi
January 2025
Department of Endocrine, Genetics and Metabolism, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710003, China.
Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a special type of diabetes characterized by clinical features including early onset of diabetes (before 30 years of age), autosomal dominant inheritance, impaired glucose-induced insulin secretion, and hyperglycemia. So far, 14 types of MODY have been reported, accounting for about 1%-5% of the patients with diabetes. MODY often presents with an insidious onset, and although 14 subtypes have been identified for MODY, it is frequently misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes due to overlapping clinical features and high costs and limitations of genetic testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
The development of optical sensors for label-free quantification of cell parameters has numerous uses in the biomedical arena. However, using current optical probes requires the laborious collection of sufficiently large datasets that can be used to calibrate optical probe signals to true metabolite concentrations. Further, most practitioners find it difficult to confidently adapt black box chemometric models that are difficult to troubleshoot in high-stakes applications such as biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
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