Illumination from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) disrupts pathological cytokines expression and activates relevant signal pathways in primary human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the aged people. The latest systemic review of epidemiological investigations revealed that excessive light exposure increases the risk of AMD. With the drastically increasing use of high-energy light-emitting diodes (LEDs) light in our domestic environment nowadays, it is supposed to pose a potential oxidative threat to ocular health. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is the major ocular source of pathological cytokines, which regulate local inflammation and angiogenesis. We hypothesized that high-energy LED light might disrupt the pathological cytokine expression of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), contributing to the pathogenesis of AMD. Primary human RPE cells were isolated from eyecups of normal eye donors and seeded into plate wells for growing to confluence. Two widely used multichromatic white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with correlated color temperatures (CCTs) of 2954 and 7378 K were used in this experiment. The confluent primary RPE cells were under white LEDs light exposure until 24 h. VEGF-A, IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 proteins and mRNAs were measured using an ELISA kit and RT-PCR, respectively. Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), Akt, Janus kinase (JAK)2 and Nuclear factor (NF)-κB signal pathways after LEDs illumination were evaluated by western blotting analysis. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using chloromethyl- 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate. Inhibitors of relevant signal pathways and anti-oxidants were added to the primary RPE cells before LEDs illumination to evaluate their biological functions. We found that 7378 K light, but not 2954 K upregulated the VEGF-A, IL-6, IL-8 and downregulated MCP-1 proteins and mRNAs levels in a time-dependent manner. In parallel, initial activation of MAPKs and NF-κB signal pathways were also observed after 7378 K light exposure. Mechanistically, antioxidants for eliminating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and targeted inhibitors of MAPKs and NF-κB significantly blocked 7378 K light-induced changes of specific cytokines, respectively. Our findings suggest that 7378 K light, not 2954 K induced upregulation of VEGF-A, IL-6, IL-8 and downregulation of MCP-1 via ROS accumulation, activating MAPKs and NF-κB signal pathways.