Chitosan Oligosaccharides Suppress Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Activation and Ameliorate Experimental Autoimmune Uveoretinitis in Mice

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2020-11, Vol.21 (21), p.8326
• Main Authors: Hsu, Sheng-Min, Yang, Chang-Hao, Tsai, Hsien-Yang, Lin, Chia-Jhen, Fang, Yi-Hsuan, Shieh, Chi-Chang, Chen, Shun-Hua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Autoimmune Diseases - drug therapy; Autoimmune Diseases - immunology; Chitosan - metabolism; Chitosan - pharmacology; chitosan oligosaccharides (COS); Disease Models, Animal; experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU); Eye Proteins - adverse effects; Eye Proteins - metabolism; Female; Inflammation - metabolism; Interleukin-17 - immunology; Lymphocyte Activation - immunology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; NF-kappa B - metabolism; nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB); Oligosaccharides - therapeutic use; Retina - metabolism; Retinitis - drug therapy; Retinol-Binding Proteins - adverse effects; Retinol-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - immunology; Uveitis - drug therapy; Uveitis - metabolism
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21218326

We investigated the therapeutic potential and mechanism of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) for experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) in mice. EAU was induced in C57/BL6 mice by injection of human interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) peptides. At the same time, a high or low dose (20 or 10 mg/kg) of COS or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was given to mice daily after EAU induction. We found that mouse EAU is ameliorated by the high-dose COS treatment when compared with PBS treatment. In the retinas of high-dose COS-treated mice, the nuclear translocation of NF-κB subunit (p65) was suppressed, and the expression of several key EAU inflammatory mediators, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17 and MCP-1 was lowered. These results suggest that COS may be a potential treatment for posterior uveitis.