Effect of Bushen Huoxue Decoction on the orphan receptor and tyrosine hydroxylase in the brain of rats with Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the effect of Bushen Huoxue Decoction (BHD) on the orphan receptor (Nurr1) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the brain of rats with Parkinson's disease (PD).


METHODS
One hundred and twenty SD rats were divided into 100 in the model group and 20 in the normal control group, fifty-eight SD rats from the model group, established into PD model successfully by injuring their substantia nigra (SSN) with 6-hydroxydopamine, were divided equally into the model group and the test group, and they were treated with saline and BHD, respectively, for eight successive weeks. The change in the rats' behavior before and after treatment was observed by counting the cycles of rotation induced by apomorphine injection; the pathology of neurons, level of Nurr1 mRNA expression, and amount of TH positive cells in SSN were observed after treatment.


RESULTS
The rats' behavior was improved in the tested group significantly, the rotation cycle after treatment being 84.0 ± 20.0 cycles/40 min, which was significantly lower than that in the model group (377.0 ± 62.3 cycles/40 min, P<0.01). Besides, the Nurr1 mRNA expression and TH positive cell in the test group were 0.97 ± 0.15 and 49.40 ± 14.72, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the model group, 0.22 ± 0.03 and 5.45 ± 2.58, respectively (all P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
BHD could treat PD by enhancing the Nurr1 mRNA expression, increasing the TH content in brain, and promoting the repairing of injured neuron in cerebral SSN.
Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100853, China.
Ming-Hui
MH
Yang
Hai-Ming
HM
Wang
Yi
Y
Liu
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D057126:Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism*
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D057126:Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C527851:bushen huoxue; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
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