Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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ACORUS TATARINOWII SCHOTT INCREASES THE PERMEABILITY OF BLOOD-RETINAL BARRIER: EVIDENCE FROM AN IN VITRO STUDY

HUIPENG JIN 1, KERUI CAI 2, CHUNHUA YUAN 3, XUEQI YANG 4*

1Ophthalmic Function Room, Hongqi Hospital Affiliated to Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, 157000, China
2 Department of Histology and Embryology, Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, 157000, China
3 Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, 157000, China
4 Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, 157000, China

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Blood-retinal barrier (BRB) restricts systemically administered drugs from entering the retina. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of the Acorus tatarinowii Schott (Shi Chang Pu (SCP)) extract on the permeability of BRB and clarify the underlying mechanisms. Rat retinal vascular endothelial cells (RVECs) were grown on transwell inserts to model the tight junctions of inner BRB in vitro. The results showed that after SCP treatment, the junctions between RVECs gradually disappeared, and the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) value of the cell monolayer was markedly decreased in time, indicating damage to the barrier integrity. Moreover, the expression levels of tight-junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin were significantly decreased after SCP treatment. In conclusion, this study provides promising evidence that the integrity and permeability of inner BRB could be obviously changed by SCP treatment.