Effect of artesunate on expression of MMP-9 in rat retina / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the effects of artesunate (ART) on diabetic retinopathy of rats by detecting the expression variation of matrixmetalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and inhibitory factor matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1) in retina. Methods: A total of 24 healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into negative control, model control and ART treated groups. The model control group and ART treated group were given injection of streptozotocin (STZ) to establish the type 1 diabetic rat model. After being raised for three months, the ART treated rats' abdomina were given ART injection for 10 d. All retinas of three groups were isolated. The expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 mRNA was detected by Real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and the expression of MMP-9 protein was detected by immunohistochemical staining. Results: The expression of MMP-9 in ART treated group was significantly decreased compared with model control group (P < 0.05), whereas TIMP-1 in ART treated group was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The immunohistochemical staining showed that the positive expression of MMP-9 protein in ART treated group was significantly less than that in model control group. Conclusion: ART has inhibitory effects on the expression of MMP-9 in the diabetic retinopathy of rats.