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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1976-1981 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Neural Regeneration Research |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2015 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Lycium barbarum (wolfberry)
- Lycium barbarum polysaccharides
- Nerve regeneration
- Neural regeneration
- Neurogenesis
- Retinal disease
- Traditional Chinese medicine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental Neuroscience