Effects of Lycium barbarum L. Polysaccharides on Vascular Retinopathy: An Insight Review

Abstract

Vascular retinopathy is a pathological change in the retina caused by ocular or systemic vascular diseases that can lead to blurred vision and the risk of blindness. Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) are extracted from the fruit of traditional Chinese medicine, L. barbarum. They have strong biological activities, including immune regulation, antioxidation, and neuroprotection, and have been shown to improve vision in numerous studies. At present, there is no systematic literature review of LBPs on vascular retinal prevention and treatment. We review the structural characterization and extraction methods of LBPs, focus on the mechanism and pharmacokinetics of LBPs in improving vascular retinopathy, and discuss the future clinical application and lack of work. LBPs are involved in the regulation of VEGF, Rho/ROCK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, Nrf2/HO-1, AGEs/RAGE signaling pathways, which can alleviate the occurrence and development of vascular retinal diseases in an inflammatory response, oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, and neuroprotection. LBPs are mainly absorbed by the small intestine and stomach and excreted through urine and feces. Their low bioavailability in vivo has led to the development of novel dosage forms, including multicompartment delivery systems and scaffolds. Data from the literature confirm the medicinal potential of LBPs as a new direction for the prevention and complementary treatment of vascular retinopathy.

Distinct Role of Lycium barbarum L. Polysaccharides in Oxidative Stress-Related Ocular Diseases

“…In all these extraction methods, the similar underlying principle is the degradation of the cell wall under certain conditions without affecting the polysaccharide activity [ 25 ]. Each extraction method has its pros and cons [ 26 ]. When selecting specific methods, it is essential to weigh the high extraction rate and biological activity of LBPs.…”

“…The LBPs are highly branched, and the main chain is a (1→6) Galp-connected galactose [ 30 ]. It is the complex structure of a polysaccharide that determines its biological activity [ 26 ].…”

“…In addition, Li et al [ 64 ] found that LBPs significantly reduced the blood glucose concentration of mice induced by a high-fat diet and triglyceride (TG) and DAG concentrations in serum and liver by regulating AMPK activity in hepatocytes and inhibiting the expression of SREBP-1c. Yang et al [ 26 ] reported that LBPs reduced the concentration of glucose in the blood and alleviated insulin resistance in obese mice, which, in turn, reduced the serum concentrations of TG, total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and increased that of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Meanwhile, the expressions of SOD and GSH increased while that of malonic dialdehyde (MDA) decreased.…”

Lycium barbarum Ameliorates Neural Damage Induced by Experimental Ischemic Stroke and Radiation Exposure

“…The fruit, root bark and leaves of Lycium barbarum are widely used as food and pharmaceutical additives [32], and contains rich chemical components [33]. A large number of studies have shown that it has a variety of favorable biological effects in patients with diabetes [32,34], impaired reproductive systems [35,36], eye diseases [37,38], cardiovascular diseases [39,40] and cancers [41,42]. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP), the main active component of Lycium barbarum, has been shown to possess anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-aging properties [43][44][45][46][47].…”

Chemical and Biological Properties of Three Poorly Studied Species of Lycium Genus—Short Review

“…The biological properties of wolfberries have been also largely reported and reviewed. For instance, when performing a browse search in the Web of Science platform in November 2022 using the following key words "Lycium barbarum review", and restricting for year 2022 only, it is possible to find a large number of review papers that have in their scope of analysis this species, as well as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities, modulation of gut microbiota, neuroprotective, neuroprotective effects on retinal ganglion cells, immunomodulatory, positive effects on cognitive impairment, anti-fatigue effect, hepatoprotective, and anti-tumor effect [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. The role of the plant polysaccharides, including that of L. barbarum, in drug delivery system in tumor treatment, targeted therapy, and wound healing was also reviewed and discussed [63].…”