Abstract:  Objective To study the effects of extract of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels on the cultured human retinal nerve cells. Design Experimental study. Participants Adult retinal nerve cells. Methods Retinal nerve cells were co-cultured with different concentration of extract of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00, 20.00, 40.00 and 80.00 g/L, respectively); then 24 hours and 72 hours later, retinal nerve cells proliferation was evaluated by MTT assays; the mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMPs) of cells was measured by confocal microscopy. The change of fluorescence intensity before and after twice adding the extract were recorded (the interval of the twice adding was 94 seconds). The peaks of fluorescence intensity which represented MMPs between the twice adding and base line were analysed using one-way analysis of variance. Main Outcome Measures Cell proliferation, MMPs. Results Compared to the control group, the protective effects of the extract with the highest concentration of 80.00 g/L was 256% after 24 hours and 261% after 72 hours, respectively. Confocal microscopy showed the peaks of fluorescence intensity were significantly different among first adding, second adding and the base line (F=56.694， P＜0.001). Compared with the base line (4.95±0.02), the peak of fluorescence intensity increased 437% after the first adding of the extract (26.02±7.62, P＜0.001) and 997% after the second adding of the extract (54.17±14.15, P＜0.001). It showed that the extract could enhance the MMPs significantly with undulatory property. Conclusion The extract of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels has certain protective effects on adult retinal nerve cells and might be used in the treatment of some retinal diseases in the future.

Key words: retina, nerve cells, Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, mitochondrial membrane potentials