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. 2015 Dec;10(12):1976-81.
doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.172315.

Lycium barbarum polysaccharides promotes in vivo proliferation of adult rat retinal progenitor cells

Hua Wang  1 , Benson Wui-Man Lau  2 , Ning-Li Wang  1 , Si-Ying Wang  1 , Qing-Jun Lu  1 , Raymond Chuen-Chung Chang  3 , Kwok-Fai So  4
Affiliations

Lycium barbarum polysaccharides promotes in vivo proliferation of adult rat retinal progenitor cells

Hua Wang et al. Neural Regen Res. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Lycium barbarum is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine prescription for protection of optic nerve. However, it remains unclear regarding the effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides, the main component of Lycium barbarum, on in vivo proliferation of adult ciliary body cells. In this study, adult rats were intragastrically administered low- and high-dose Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (1 and 10 mg/kg) for 35 days and those intragastrically administered phosphate buffered saline served as controls. The number of Ki-67-positive cells in rat ciliary body in the Lycium barbarum polysaccharides groups, in particular low-dose Lycium barbarum polysaccharides group, was significantly greater than that in the phosphate buffered saline group. Ki-67-positive rat ciliary body cells expressed nestin but they did not express glial fibrillary acidic protein. These findings suggest that Lycium barbarum polysaccharides can promote the proliferation of adult rat retinal progenitor cells and the proliferated cells present with neuronal phenotype.

Keywords: Lycium barbarum (wolfberry); Lycium barbarum polysaccharides; adult; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurogenesis; retinal disease; traditional Chinese medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ki-67-positive cells in the adult ciliary body following LBP administration. (A–F) Representative fluorescence images of Ki-67-positive cells in the ciliary body in LBPH (A, B), LBPL (C, D) and PBS (E, F) groups. Scale bars: 250 μm. (G) Quantification of Ki-67-positive cells in the ciliary body. Both LBPH and LBPL groups showed significantly greater number of Ki-67-positive cells than PBS group (**P < 0.01, vs. PBS group), and the number of Ki-67-positive cells in the LBPL group was significantly greater than in LBPH group (##P < 0.01). One-way analysis of variance with the least significance difference post-hoc test was used. LBPH or LBPL group: Adult rats were intragastrically administrated 10 or 1 mg/kg LBP for 35 days. PBS group: Adult rats intragastrically administrated PBS for 35 days. LBP: Lycium barbarum polysaccharide; LBPH: high-dose Lycium barbarum polysaccharide; LBPL: low-dose Lycium barbarum polysaccharide; PBS: phosphate buffered saline; DAPI: 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindol.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Fluorescence microscopy images of nestin and Ki-67 co-expression and DAPI labeling in the ciliary body of LBPH (A–D) and LBPL (E–F)-treated adult rats. Nestin or Ki-67 expression is indicated by arrows and arrowheads. The nestin and Ki-67 co-expression indicated with arrow is magnified for better morphological observation in the box at the left-bottom corner. Scale bars: 250 μm. LBPH or LBPL group: Adult rats administrated intragastrically with 10 or 1 mg/kg LBP for 35 days. DAPI: 4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindol; LBP: Lycium barbarum polysaccharide.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Co-expression of Ki-67 and GFAP in the adult rat ciliary body cells following LBP administration. No co-expression of Ki-67 and GFAP was observed in the ciliary body cells in the LBP groups and PBS group. Scale bars: 250 μm. LBPH or LBPL group: Adult rats intragastrically administrated 10 or 1mg/kg LBP for 35 days. PBS group: Adult rats intragastrically administrated PBS for 35 days. GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein.
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