Gambogic acid affects high glucose-induced apoptosis and inflammation of retinal endothelial cells through the NOX4/NLRP3 pathway

Background This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of gambogic acid (GA) on the apoptosis and inflammation of human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs) under high glucose conditions. Methods HRECs were cultured in a high glucose medium to simulate retinal endothelial cell injury induced by diabetic retinopathy. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptosis level of HRECs. Cell viability was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Western blotting was applied to detect the intracellular apoptosis-related proteins and expression levels of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), and interleukin (IL)-1β. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was utilized to detect the expression of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the cell supernatants. The messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results We observed that high glucose induced the apoptosis and inflammation of HRECs. In addition, the high glucose environment promoted NOX/NLRP3 pathway activation. The activity of HRECs was not significantly affected by the presence of 20 μM or less of GA, and 15 μM of GA could restore the diminished activity of HRECs induced by high glucose. The apoptosis of HRECs cultured under high glucose conditions was significantly inhibited (P<0.05), the levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α in the cell supernatant were significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the levels of IL-10 were significantly increased (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the relative mRNA expression levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α in HRECs were significantly decreased (P<0.05), while those of IL-10 were significantly increased (P<0.05). The activity of the high glucose-induced NOX4/NLRP3 pathway in HRECs was significantly inhibited after treatment with 15 μM of GA (P<0.05). Following activation of the NOX4/NLRP3 pathway in HRECs, the apoptosis level was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the inflammatory response was aggravated (P<0.05). Inhibiting the activity of the intracellular NOX4/NLRP3 pathway markedly inhibited cell apoptosis and the inflammatory response (P<0.05). Conclusions GA can inhibit the apoptosis and inflammation of HRECs under high glucose conditions by inhibiting the activity of the NOX4/NLRP3 pathway. This has a significant inhibitory effect on diabetic retinopathy, which is worthy of further study.