title: Zhichan decoction induces differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease rats after neural stem cell transplantation.
abstract: The goal of this study was to increase the dopamine content and reduce dopaminergic metabolites in the brain of Parkinson's disease rats. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, we found that dopamine and dopaminergic metabolite (dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid) content in the midbrain of Parkinson's disease rats was increased after neural stem cell transplantation + Zhichan decoction, compared with neural stem cell transplantation alone. Our genetic algorithm results show that dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels achieve global optimization. Neural stem cell transplantation + Zhichan decoction increased dihydroxyphenylacetic acid levels up to 10-fold, while transplantation alone resulted in a 3-fold increment. Homovanillic acid levels showed no apparent change. Our experimental findings show that after neural stem cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease rats, Zhichan decoction can promote differentiation of neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Huifen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Encephalopathy, Liu'an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liu'an, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xuming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: NSFC grant; Parkinson's disease; Zhichan decoction; curve fitting equation; dihydroxyphenylacetic acid; dopamine metabolite; genetic algorithm; homovanillic acid; nerve regeneration; neural degeneration; neurodegeneration; optimization model; rat model; stem cell transplantation; traditional Chinese medicine