Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) on the morphology and activity of high glucose-stimulated rat retinal müller cells in vitro, and explore the protective mechanism of PEDF on müller cells. Methods The rat retinal müller cells were divided into control group, high glucose (HG) group and high glucose coordinated PEDF (HG+PEDF) group. Retinal müller cells were cultured and purified by repeated pancreatic enzyme-degisting method. The purity of retinal müller cells was identified by double staining immunofluorescence techniques. The morphology was identified by inverted phase contrast microscope and transmission electron microscopy. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were studied with CCK-8 kit, SOD kit and MDA kit in a quantitative way. Results OD values of control group, HG group and PEDF+HG group were 0.67±0.03, 0.54±0.03 and 0.63±0.03, respectively. SOD activity of these groups were (196.69±22.15), (153.42±15.54), and (180.32±16.47) U/mg prot. MDA level of these groups were (2.11±0.43), (2.86±0.33), and (2.40±0.28) nmol/mg prot. When retinal müller cells were cultured with high glucose, cells morphology changed significantly, cells activity and SOD activity decreased (P<0.01), while MDA level obviously increased (P<0.01).When PEDF were added, the change of cells morphology reduced, cells activity and SOD activity increased obviously(P<0.05), while MDA level decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion High glucose can damage the morphology and activity of retinal müller cells. PEDF can protect retinal müller cells from the damage of glucose.

Key words: ller cells, Pigment epithelium-derived factor, Mü, High glucose-stimulated