title: Ceftriaxone ameliorates motor deficits and protects dopaminergic neurons in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.
abstract: Parkinson's disease is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. There is no current promising treatment for neuroprotection of dopaminergic neurons. Ceftriaxone is a beta-lactam antibiotic and has been reported to offer neuroprotective effects (Rothstein, J.-D., Patel, S., Regan, M.-R., Haenggeli, C., Huang, Y.-H., Bergles, D.-E., Jin, L., Dykes, H.-M., Vidensky, S., Chung, D.-S., Toan, S.-V., Bruijn, L.-I., Su, Z.-Z., Gupta, P., and Fisher, P.-B. (2005) Beta-lactam antibiotics offer neuroprotection by increasing glutamate transporter expression Nature433, 73-77). In the present study, efficacy of ceftriaxone in neuroprotection of dopaminergic neurons and amelioration of motor deficits in a rat model of Parkinson's disease were investigated. Ceftriaxone was administrated in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. Using behavioral tests, grip strength and numbers of apomorphine-induced contralateral rotation were declined in the ceftriaxone-treated group. More importantly, cell death of dopaminergic neurons was found to decrease. In addition, both the protein expression and immunoreactivity for GLT-1 were up-regulated. The present results strongly indicate that ceftriaxone is a potential agent in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: T C H
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: C N P
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yung
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: K K L
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Yung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000633:toxicity; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D002443:Ceftriaxone; D016627:Oxidopamine