{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T06:32:21Z","timestamp":1786689141427,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Press of International Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO Press)","issue":"9","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int J Ophthalmol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>AIM: To investigate whether excessive glucocorticoid (GC) exposure disrupts retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) homeostasis through glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-dependent autophagy hyperactivation.\nMETHODS: Human retinal pigment epithelial cell line (ARPE-19 cells) were exposed to GC (0\u2013100 \u03bcmol\/L, 48h).\nRESULTS: GC induced GR upregulation and mitochondrial translocation in a dose- and time-dependent manner, correlating with pathological autophagy activation. Key findings included: 1) tight junction disruption, evidenced by ZO-1 fragmentation, 2) reduction in phagocytic uptake efficiency, 3) mitochondrial shrinkage and autolysosome accumulation (TEM), 4) altered AMPK\/mTOR signaling (p-AMPK up, p-mTOR down) associated with autophagosome formation, 5) elevated LC3-II levels confirming excessive autophagic flux. Critically, all GC-induced effects, including GR upregulation, signaling changes, and increased autophagy, were abolished by GR antagonism with RU486.\nCONCLUSION: This study shows that GR-dependent GC exposure induces autophagic flux with ultrastructural evidence suggestive of mitochondria-targeted autophagy and alters AMPK\/mTOR signaling, correlating with RPE barrier collapse and phagocytic failure, a possible link to steroid-associated central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.18240\/ijo.2026.09.01","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T06:15:08Z","timestamp":1786688108000},"page":"1657-1666","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Glucocorticoid-induced RPE injury in ARPE-19 cells: association with excessive autophagy and AMPK\/mTOR signaling"],"prefix":"10.18240","volume":"19","author":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Ocular Disease and Optometry Science, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-Xue","family":"Guan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Si-Tong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Ocular Disease and Optometry Science, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhi-Ming","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Ocular Disease and Optometry Science, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yao-Yao","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Ocular Disease and Optometry Science, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming-Wei","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Ocular Disease and Optometry Science, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China; College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"7543","container-title":["International Journal of Ophthalmology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ijo.cn\/gjyken\/article\/pdf\/20260901","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T06:15:08Z","timestamp":1786688108000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ijo.cn\/gjyken\/article\/abstract\/20260901"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.18240\/ijo.2026.09.01","relation":{},"ISSN":["2222-3959","2227-4898"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2222-3959","type":"print"},{"value":"2227-4898","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]}}}