dc.description.abstract | With the rise in aging populations worldwide, diseases of the eye like age-related
macular degeneration (AMD) will continue to rise and the need to investigate ways to
slow down the progression of the disease are at an all-time high. AMD exists in two
forms, the slower and less invasive dry form and the more aggressive wet form which
can lead to a rapid loss of vision in patients diagnosed. This study aims to investigate
the role of oxidative stress and the ability to use natural antioxidant compounds as a
means of reducing oxidative stress and mitigating further damages in AMD. This study
also aims to further investigating the role of gene knockdowns in cytoprotection of
human retinal pigment cell line (ARPE-19 cells) pre-treated with natural antioxidant
compounds. A wild-type ARPE-19 cells (WT) was used as an in vitro model of AMD to
investigate the use of antioxidant compounds to mitigate oxidative stress damages.
Resveratrol, pterostilbene, lutein, punicalagin, loganin, chebulagic acid, beta-carotene,
and zeaxanthin were investigated in the cell culture model as a means of offering
cytoprotection to ARPE-19 cells exposed to blue light and sodium iodate (SI), both used
as inducers of oxidative stress. [...] | en_US |