Fortified S-Allyl L-Cysteine: Animal Safety, Effect on Retinal Ischemia, and Role of Wnt in the Underlying Therapeutic Mechanism

Figure 5

(a) Western blot analysis showing the expression levels of Wnt, HIF-1α, VEGF, and β-actin proteins. The blot images illustrated protein expression levels in normal retina as a control (column 1), whereas the 2^nd column illustrates ischemic retina preadministered with vehicle (Vehicle + I/R). Columns 3 and 4 showed a retina that received ischemia together with pre-/postadministration of 0.0018 mg SAC. Each bar in respective pictures represented the ratio of Wnt (b), HIF-1α (c), and VEGF to β-actin (d). indicates a significant (/) difference between the normal retina and the ischemic retina preadministered with vehicle (Vehicle + I/R), whereas † indicated a significant () difference between the “Vehicle + I/R” group and the ischemic retina preadministered with SAC (SAC 0.0018 mg + I/R). However, as compared with Vehicle + I/R, the ischemia-induced upregulation of Wnt/HIF-1α/VEGF had a trend to be, though not significantly, inhibited by the I/R + SAC 0.0018 mg treatment. The results are presented as mean ± S.E.M. (n = 4). SAC, S-allyl L-cysteine; HIF-1α, hypoxia inducible factor-1α; VEGF, vascular endothelium factor.

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