Bujing yishi tablets inhibition of the expression of P53 and bax in the P53/Bax signal pathway protects the retina of DBA/2J mice with high intraocular pressure induced by anterior chamber injection of nanomagnetic beads

Abstract

The protective effect of Bujing Yishi tablets on the retina of DBA/2J mice with high intraocular pressure (IOP) induced by anterior chamber injection of nanomagnetic beads was observed on the basis of the modulation of the p53/Bax pathway. Thirty DBA/2J mice were randomly divided into groups for control, model, and high, medium, and low dose of Bujing Yishi tablets. Excepting the control group, the other four groups received a nanomagnetic beads injection in the anterior chamber of the eye to establish a glaucoma model. Retinal structure was observed via hematoxylin and eosin staining. p53 and Bax protein localization and mRNA and protein expression were respectively detected by immunofluorescence staining, q-PCR, and western blotting. Compared with before modeling, the IOP significantly increased in the model and the treatment group immediately after model establishment; the IOP increased immediately in the model group compared with that in the control group (P <0.001). The control group had clear retinal structure, orderly structured retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and clear cell nuclei, whereas the model group had RGCs with a disordered arrangement and sparse nuclei. Compared with that in the model group, the retinal hierarchy of the treated group was apparent. p53 and Bax expression was higher in the model group than that in the control group (P <0.001) but was lower in treated groups than that in the model group (P <0.05); the lowest level was observed in the high-dose group. For western blotting, the expression level of p53 and Bax protein in the model group was higher than that in the control group while the expression of both proteins in all treatment groups was lower than that in the model group (P <0.001), with the lowest in the high-dose group. Thus, treatment with Bujing Yishi tablets can reduce the IOP, inhibit the decrease of RGCs, increase the retinal thickness, and improve the retinal pathological and morphological structure, which may be related to the inhibition of expression the proapoptotic factors p53 and Bax in the p53/Bax pathway.