Baicalein May Prevent AMD

TAIPEI, TaiwanBaicalein exerts antioxidant effects in human retinal cells, possibly fighting the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. ePub 29 Sept 2010. DOI: 10.1089/jop.2010.0063). Scutellaria baicalensis, also known as Baikal Skullcap, is one of the fundamental herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The flavone baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone), the aglycone of baicalin, has been shown in previous studies to serve as an anti-inflammatory agent. In the current study, researchers from Cheng Hsin General Hospital aimed to determine whether baicalein could exert antioxidant effects to fight early oxidative damage in human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) cells that could lead to AMD.

The in vitro work found H2O2 dose-dependently reduced the cell viability of hRPE cells, an effect that was dose-dependently and significantly counteracted with pretreatment with baicalein. Similarly, baicalein had a significant dose-dependent preventive effect against H2O2-induced free radical formation. In addition, while treatment with a sublethal dose of H2O2 upregulated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), pretreatment with baicalein again significantly blunted those increases in a dose-dependent manner.