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Effect of Crocin on structure and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in rat retina after injury by ischemia-reperfusion

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Crocin on structure and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha; (TNF-alpha;) and interleukin-1beta; (IL-1beta;) in rat retina after injury by ischemia-reperfusion. Methods A total of 80 Sprague-Dawley male rats at the age of 8 -10 weeks were divided into control group, model group, low-dose Crocin group and high-dose Crocin group, with 20 rats in each group. The rats of control group were not treated. The rats in model, low-dose Crocin and high-dose Crocin group were induced with normal saline by anterior chamber perfusion creating a retinal ischemia-reperfusion (RIR) model. The rats of the low-dose Crocin and highdose Crocin group received intraperitoneal injection with different doses of Crocin solution (5 mg/kg, or 50 mg/kg) 30 minutes prior to ischemic injury and one time per day after successful RIR. Optical microscopy was used to observe the retinal structure. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the expression of TNF-alpha; and IL-1beta; 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after RIR. ResultsThe retinal structure of control group was normal. Pathological changes were found in the RIR model and low-dose Crocin group, such as retinal edema, disorganized structure and loosely packed cells. The degree of pathological changes in lowdose Crocin group was less than the RIR model group. The retinal structure of high-dose Crocin group was similar to the control group. The expression of TNF-alpha; was the highest at 24 hours after modeling, while the expression of IL-1beta; was the highest at 12 and 48 hours after RIR modeling. Six, 12, 24 and 48 hours after RIR modeling, compared with the control group, the TNF-alpha; expression of model (t=5.42, 7.94, 9.32, 9.18;P＜0.05 ), low-dose Crocin (t=3.94, 4.12, 4.98, 3.84;P＜0.05) and high-dose Crocin group (t=2.13, 2.34, 2.96, 2.78;P＞0.05) were increased. Compared with the RIR model group, the TNF-alpha; expression of low-dose Crocin (t=3.95, 4.56, 4.01, 5.12) and high-dose Crocin group (t=5.23, 7.65, 7.74, 7.63) was decreased. Compared with the control group, the IL-1beta; expression of model (t=7.23, 7.87, 7.15, 15.60), low-dose Crocin (t=5.65, 5.10, 5.54, 6.87;P＜0.05) and high-dose Crocin group (t=4.38, 5.21, 4.56, 4.75) was increased (P＜0.05). Compared with the model group, the IL-1beta; expression of low.dose Crocin group was decreased significantly 48 hours after RIR modeling (t=7.56,P＜0.05); but it decreased significantly at each time point in high-dose Crocin group (t=6.94, 5.36, 6.05, 10.50;P＜0.05). Conclusion Crocin can improve the retinal pathologic changes, while down-regulating TNF-alpha; and IL-1beta; expression in RIR rats.