Effects of laminarin on non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy in C57BL/6 mice based on transcriptomics analysis

Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2025 03 v.60 392-398     font:big middle small

Found programs: Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Educational Committee (No.2022AH050651);Scientific Research Project of Anhui Medical University (No.2022xkj107);Natural Science Key Project of Bengbu Medical University (No.2022byzd196)

Authors:Zhang Lei ;Zhang Sumei ;Yang Zhen; Hu Weikang; Bai Hongmei; Zhou Wenjing; Wang Zihan; Li Mingcong; Zhang Shengquan; Liao Rongfeng

Keywords:high throughput sequencing;laminarin;diabetes retinopathy;C57BL/6

DOI:10.19405/j.cnki.issn1000-1492.2025.03.002

〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the effect of laminarin(LAM) on nonproliferative diabetes retinopathy by high throughput sequencing(RNA-seq). Methods The diabetes model was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ), and the effect of LAM on diabetic mice was observed.C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: Control group, Model group, and LAM group, with 8 mice in each group. After 8 weeks of modeling, the LAM group received a 4-week intraperitoneal injection of LAM treatment. Changes in blood glucose and body weight of the three groups of mice were recorded, HE staining was performed to examine retinal lesions, and RNA-seq was used to identify differentially expressed genes(DEGs) in diabetic retinopathy(DR) under the action of STZ and LAM. Results STZ successfully established the model of DR, and LAM reduced the blood sugar in diabetic mice to a certain extent and improved the pathological morphology of retinal structural looseness in diabetic mice. After RNA-seq analysis of DEGs, it was found that there were a total of 214 DEGs in the retina of the Model group mice compared to the Control group. Enrichment analysis revealed that DR could exacerbate the lesions through the PI3K Akt signaling pathway. There were a total of 42 DEGs in the retina of the Model group and LAM group mice, and enrichment showed that LAM improved the lesions through the neutrophil extracellular trap pathway. Early growth response factor 1(Egr1), FBJ osteosarcoma oncogene(Fos), nuclear receptor subfamily 4A member 1(Nr4a1), and salt-induced kinase 1(Sik1) were regulated by STZ, and LAM significantly regulated their expression, which might be closely related to LAM′s treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Conclusion DEGs can exacerbate the severity of diabetic retinopathyviathe PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. LAM can mitigate diabetic retinopathyviathe neutrophil extracellular trap pathway. Egr1, Fos, Nr4a1, and Sik1 are key genes involved in LAM treatment of STZ-induced DR.