Edaravone protects from retinal injury through NF-κB in diabetic rats
Authors: X-M Wang
L Hu
Y-J Wan
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: edaravone; retinal injury; diabetic rats; NF-κB pathway; antioxidant indexes
Affiliations: Department of Endocrinology, Gongan County People's Hospital, Jingzhou, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: To observe whether edaravone has a therapeutic and protective effect on retinal injury in diabetic rats through the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway. Materials and methods: The Sprague-Dawley rat model of diabetes was established and divided into diabetes model group (model group) and edaravone treatment group (treatment group). Also, normal control group (control group) was set up. After successful modeling, the blood and retinal tissues of rats were collected. Then, the blood glucose content and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected. Antioxidant indexes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA), were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while the number of corneal nerve fibers was observed microscopically. Moreover, the gene and protein expressions of SOD and NF-κB pathway in tissues were detected via quantitative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. Results: The level of blood glucose in model group was increased compared with that in control group (p&lt;0.05), indicating the successful modeling. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-1 were significantly higher in model group than those in control group. In terms of the antioxidant indexes, the level of MDA in model group was significantly higher than that in other two groups, while the level of SOD in treatment group was significantly increased and close to that in control group. Besides, the number of corneal nerve fibers significantly declined in model group, while it was increased in treatment group but still lower than that in control group. According to the gene detection results, the mRNA expression of NF-κB p65 was markedly higher in model group than that in control group, and it was decreased in treatment group, while the mRNA expression of SOD showed the opposite trend. The protein expression of NF-κB p65 was remarkably higher in model group than in control group, was decreased in treatment group, and was close to that in control group, while the protein expression of SOD showed the opposite trend. Conclusions: Edaravone can affect the oxidation and antioxidation through the NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby exerting a therapeutic and protective effect on retinal injury in diabetic rats. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 4: The GAPDH panel in this paper looks very similar to that seen in Figure 3 of MH Lun et al., DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202005_21366. The two papers have no authors, institutions, or even tissue samples in common. Figure 4 here shows retinal (eye) tissue, while that in MH Lun shows heart tissues. YJ Wan, Figure 4: ![file] MH Lun, Figure 3: ![file] A closeup of the GAPHD panel as shown in YJ Wan (eye tissue, left) and in MH Lun (heart tissue, right): ![file] , 
 Because these papers all have at least one image in common, while not sharing any authors or affiliations, they appear to be produced by a paper mill, which might have supplied the papers and the figures. As of today, this set contains at least 9 papers, all connected to each other with at least one photo, as per the work of Hoya Camphorifolia. * H. Wang et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201912_19695 - https: pubpeer.com publications 7BB185FB656F0F8214F92EDFE047FF * HT Zeng et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201908_18757 - https: pubpeer.com publications B226E56465DACEA93791215756340B * MH Lun et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202005_21366 - https: pubpeer.com publications AAA8F559D37A6D853CC16764A06A53 * Q Xu et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201909_19026 - https: pubpeer.com publications C6F5DA3CA8F64BD57CE8A9B38616D0 * YJ Shi et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201906_18082 - https: pubpeer.com publications 153695342827B732C15C614F61DF10 * YJ Wan et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201908_18622 - https: pubpeer.com publications 41C0C61998A1A6C6339689A61A6ABF * YT Zhu et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_202005_21205 - https: pubpeer.com publications 277C24C645B71AF55A72A1200C46B4 * YY Wang et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201912_19696 - https: pubpeer.com publications 702E90DEA6ED9278B2F67828C5329D * YZ Fan et al. - DOI: 10.26355 eurrev_201910_19306 - https: pubpeer.com publications 0B80BCE778E3D360504102D662CDE5 The paper by H. Wang et al. also contains the Western blot mentioned above. ,