Bilberry Protects Vision from Retina Inflammation

TOKYO Anthocyanin-rich bilberry extract has demonstrated a protective effect on visual function during retinal inflammation and uveitis, according to a new report from Keio University School of Medicine researchers. They published their findings online ahead of print in Laboratory Investigation.

Researchers used a lipopolysaccharide-driven mouse model of endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) that included retinal inflammation.  They pretreated the mice with anthocyanin-rich bilberry extract and analyzed the treatments effects on the retina.  The bilberry extract inhibited the impairment of photoreceptor cell function, in addition to intracellular curtailed the elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activating NFkappaB in the inflamed retina. At the cellular level, bilberry inhibited some typical consequences of EIU, including the shortening of outer segments in photoreceptor cells and decreased rhodopsin (a purple retinal pigment that helps form photoreceptor cells). Further, the extract limited STAT3 activation, which induces inflammation-related rhodopsin decrease, and IL-6 expression, which activates STAT3.