Influence of proanthocyanidins on expression of Bcl-2 and Bax after ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat retina

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of proanthocyanidins on protein expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in rats with retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.METHODS All rats were randomly divided into the normal group,model group,danshen group,low and high PC groups with 5 rats in each group.The rats in the low and high PC groups received 100,300mg/kg PC respectively,the danshen control group received 0.09 g/kg danshen granules solution,the normal group and model groups received equal capacity of saline 2 weeks before molding,once a day for 14 days.After modeling all groups continued to give medicine according to the original plan.In addition to the normal group,the rest groups by reperfusion time were divided into 6,24,48 and 72h groups.The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in retina of rats at different time points after RIR were detected by immunohistochemical method.RESULTS Retinal ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer of each group were observed by Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression,which the Bcl-2 expression in the model group 6h began to express,peaked 48h,72h decreased obviously.The expression change of Bax was similar to Bcl-2,but the peak time at the 24h.Compared with the other groups there were statistical significant differences(P0.05).At all time points,danshen group,low and high PC groups compared with the model group,the expression of Bcl-2 increased(P 0.05),Bax expression decreased(P0.05).Es pecially between the high PC group and the model group the differences were most obvious(P0.01).CONCLUSIONS The protein expression of Bcl-2 and Bax increased in rat retina after retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury,and PC could upregulate Bcl-2 expression and downregulate Bax expression,thus it could protect the retina.