Figure 7.

Protective effects of CHE against NaIO₃-induced cell damage in ARPE-19 cells. (A) Cells were pre-treated with CHE at the indicated concentrations or 0.1% DMSO (vehicle control) for 2 h and then incubated with or without 20 mM of NaIO₃ for an additional 24 h. Cell viability was measured via the CCK-8 assay. ROS levels were measured by the DCFDA (B) and DHE (C) assays. N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC, 4 mM) was used as an antioxidant control. (D) CHE attenuated NaIO₃-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. After pre-treatment with 2.5 or 5 μM CHE for 2 h, ARPE-19 cells were incubated with or without 20 mM NaIO₃ for an additional 24 h. Red/green fluorescence intensity was quantified via the JC-10 assay (A). Carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP, 40 μM) and N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC, 4 mM) were used as positive and antioxidant controls, respectively. *** p < 0.001, versus control group; # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01, ### p < 0.001 versus the NaIO₃-treated group.