The inhibitory effects of Dulaglutide on cellular senescence against high glucose in human retinal endothelial cells

Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most important chronic microvascular complications of diabetes, and its main feature is diabetic glomerulosclerosis. Endothelial sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression is related to aging, and reducing SIRT1 expression promotes endothelial cell aging. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) can be synthesized in a variety of cells, such as endothelial cells. Dulaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug, and it can activate the GLP-1 receptor and promote the conversion of intracellular adenosine triphosphate to adenylate cyclase, thereby activating phosphokinase A, and regulating blood glucose levels effectively in the body. We analyzed the effects of Dulaglutide on inhibiting cell senescence by studying the effects of its different concentrations on telomerase activity and senescence-related gene expression. Our results suggest that Dulaglutide can alleviate high-glucose-induced oxidative stress in human retinal endothelial cells by restoring the expressions of SIRT1 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), thereby inhibiting the expression of PAI-1, and restoring telomerase activity. This suggests that the activity of retinal endothelial cells can be controlled by regulating the expression of SIRT1, so as to achieve the effect of treating diabetic retinopathy.