Oxidative stress plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of retinal degeneration. Gypenosides are the major functional components isolated from Gynostemma pentaphyllum. They have been shown to protect against oxidative stress and inflammation and have also demonstrated a protective effect on experimental optic neuritis. In order to determine the protective properties of gypenosides against oxidative stress in human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, ARPE-19 cells were treated with H₂O₂ or H₂O₂ plus gypenosides for 24 h. ARPE-19 cells co-treated with gypenosides had significantly increased cell viability and decreased cell death rate when compared to cells treated with H₂O₂ alone. The level of GSH, the activities of SOD and catalase, and the expression of NRF2 and antioxidant genes were notably decreased, while there were marked increases in ROS, MDA and pro-inflammatory cytokines in ARPE-19 cells exposed to H₂O₂; co-treatment with gypenosides significantly counteract these changes. Our study suggests that gypenosides protect RPE cells from oxidative damage and offer therapeutic potential for the treatment of retinal degeneration.

氧化应激在视网膜变性的发病机理中起关键作用。绞股蓝总皂苷是从绞股蓝（Gynostemma pentaphyllum）中分离出来的主要功能成分。它们被证明可以抵抗氧化应激和炎症，并且还对实验性视神经炎具有保护作用。为了确定绞股蓝皂苷对人视网膜色素上皮细胞（RPE）的氧化应激的保护特性，将ARPE-19细胞用H ₂ O ₂或H ₂ O ₂加绞股蓝皂苷处理24小时。与用H ₂ O处理的细胞相比，与绞股蓝皂苷共同处理的ARPE-19细胞具有显着提高的细胞活力并降低了细胞死亡率_2个。暴露于H ₂ O _2的ARPE-19细胞中GSH的水平，SOD和过氧化氢酶的活性以及NRF2和抗氧化基因的表达显着下降，而ROS，MDA和促炎细胞因子明显增加。绞股蓝总皂甙的联合治疗可显着抵消这些变化。我们的研究表明，绞股蓝总皂甙可保护RPE细胞免受氧化损伤，并为视网膜变性的治疗提供治疗潜力。