title: Neuroprotective effect of ketamine/xylazine on two rat models of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: There is a great concern in the literature for the development of neuroprotectant drugs to treat Parkinson's disease. Since anesthetic drugs have hyperpolarizing properties, they can possibly act as neuroprotectants. In the present study, we have investigated the neuroprotective effect of a mixture of ketamine (85 mg/kg) and xylazine (3 mg/kg) (K/X) on the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) or 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat models of Parkinson's disease. The bilateral infusion of MPTP (100 microg/side) or 6-OHDA (10 microg/side) into the substantia nigra pars compacta of adult male Wistar rats under thiopental anesthesia caused a modest (~67%) or severe (~91%) loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunostained cells, respectively. On the other hand, an apparent neuroprotective effect was observed when the rats were anesthetized with K/X, infused 5 min before surgery. This treatment caused loss of only 33% of the nigral tyrosine hydroxylase-immunostained cells due to the MPTP infusion and 51% due to the 6-OHDA infusion. This neuroprotective effect of K/X was also suggested by a less severe reduction of striatal dopamine levels in animals treated with these neurotoxins. In the working memory version of the Morris water maze task, both MPTP- and 6-OHDA-lesioned animals spent nearly 10 s longer to find the hidden platform in the groups where the neurotoxins were infused under thiopental anesthesia, compared to control animals. This amnestic effect was not observed in rats infused with the neurotoxins under K/X anesthesia. These results suggest that drugs with a pharmacological profile similar to that of K/X may be useful to delay the progression of Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: M E M
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Angelucci
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Anselmo-Franci
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Canteras
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Da Cunha
mesh_terms: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; D019162:Anesthetics, Combined / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007649:Ketamine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016627:Oxidopamine; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013874:Thiopental / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism; D014991:Xylazine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D019162:Anesthetics, Combined; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D014991:Xylazine; D007649:Ketamine; D016627:Oxidopamine; D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D013874:Thiopental