Neuroprotective Effects of Citicoline in in Vitro Models of Retinal Neurodegeneration

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Andrea Matteucci¹  Monica Varano²  Lucia Gaddini¹  Cinzia Mallozzi¹  Marika Villa²  Flavia Pricci¹ 

[1] Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, Rome 00161, Italy; E-Mails:;GB Bietti Eye Foundation IRCCS, Via Livenza, 3, Rome 00198, Italy; E-Mails:

关键词: citicoline;    glaucoma;    excitotoxicity;    apoptosis;    diabetic retinopathy;    primary retinal cultures;    neuroprotection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15046286

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In recent years, citicoline has been the object of remarkable interest as a possible neuroprotectant. The aim of this study was to investigate if citicoline affected cell survival in primary retinal cultures and if it exerted neuroprotective activity in conditions modeling retinal neurodegeneration. Primary retinal cultures, obtained from rat embryos, were first treated with increasing concentrations of citicoline (up to 1000 μM) and analyzed in terms of apoptosis and caspase activation and characterized by immunocytochemistry to identify neuronal and glial cells. Subsequently, excitotoxic concentration of glutamate or High Glucose-containing cell culture medium (HG) was administered as well-known conditions modeling neurodegeneration. Glutamate or HG treatments were performed in the presence or not of citicoline. Neuronal degeneration was evaluated in terms of apoptosis and loss of synapses. The results showed that citicoline did not cause any damage to the retinal neuroglial population up to 1000 μM. At the concentration of 100 μM, it was able to counteract neuronal cell damage both in glutamate- and HG-treated retinal cultures by decreasing proapoptotic effects and contrasting synapse loss. These data confirm that citicoline can efficiently exert a neuroprotective activity. In addition, the results suggest that primary retinal cultures, under conditions inducing neurodegeneration, may represent a useful system to investigate citicoline neuroprotective mechanisms.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland