Randomized Controlled Trial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Ophthalmol. Feb 12, 2016; 6(1): 1-9
Published online Feb 12, 2016. doi: 10.5318/wjo.v6.i1.1
Anticataractogenic effect of hesperidin in galactose-induced cataractogenesis in Wistar rats
Ramar Manikandan, Munuswamy Arumugam
Ramar Manikandan, Munuswamy Arumugam, Department of Zoology, University of Madras, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India
Author contributions: Both authors contributed to this manuscript.
Supported by University of Madras under UGC-UPE-II and DBT-BUILDER program (BT/ Prl2047/INF/22/199/2014) and Dr. R. Manikandan, acknowledge University of Madras for the starter grant under DST-PURSE-II program.
Institutional review board statement: All experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee guidelines (IAEC No. 02/016/2011/Sep-12).
Clinical trial registration statement: No clinical trials were performed using human participants.
Informed consent statement: No study was performed involving humans.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Yes.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Ramar Manikandan, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India. manikandanramar@yahoo.co.in
Fax: +91-44-2230100
Received: September 25, 2014
Peer-review started: September 28, 2014
First decision: December 19, 2014
Revised: November 4, 2015
Accepted: November 23, 2015
Article in press: November 25, 2015
Published online: February 12, 2016
Abstract

AIM: To explore the anticataractogenic potential of hesperidin, a flavanone, in galactose-induced cataractogenesis.

METHODS: In this study, cataract was induced by administering galactose enriched food in a set of rats. Effect of different dosages of hesperidin (25, 50 and 75 mg/kg body weight) were administered simultaneously with galactose in prevention of cataract was determined in another set. In both sets of animals, the levels of peroxidation, oxidants (NO and OH), antioxidants (enzymatic: Superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, GPx and non-enzymatic: Reduced glutathione, vitamin E), aldose reductase and sorbitol were determined in the eye lens. In addition, glucose and lipid peroxidation levels were also tested in serum. The quantitative changes in lens inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and its expression were also determined using Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses.

RESULTS: Galactose enriched food produced cataract in both the eye lens as a sequel to elevated serum glucose. Simultaneous administration of hesperidin not only reduced serum glucose but also prevented cataract development, through reduced levels of reactive oxygen species (NO and OH) and iNOS expression as well as elevated enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants were observed in the eye lens.

CONCLUSION: These results indicate the preventive effect of hesperidin against cataract in hyperglycemic rats.

Keywords: Antioxidants, Oxidative stress, Galactose-induced cataract, Free radicals, Hesperidin, Eye lens

Core tip: Hesperidin acts as an anticataractogenic agent in preventing development of cataract upon galactose induction in rats. At all the doses tested, hesperidin was able to prevent deleterious changes caused by galactose in eye lens.