title: Puerarin protects dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease models.
abstract: It has been acknowledged that oxidative stress, resulting in the apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons, is a key mechanism in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Puerarin, extracted from the root of pueraria lobata, has been clinically used for ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases as an oxygen free radical scavenger. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of puerarin on dopaminergic cell degeneration in vitro and in vivo and its possible underlying mechanisms. In SH-SY5Y cells, the reduction of cell viability, apoptosis rate and average DCFH-DA fluorescence intensity of puerarin-treated (0, 10, 50, 100 and 150 μM) cells were significantly lower than control group. In rotenone-based rodent models, puerarin treatment for 7 days ameliorated apomorphine-induced rotations significantly in Pue-50 and Pue-100 group by 45.65% and 53.06% in the first week, by 44.60% and 48.45% in the second week. Moreover, compared to control group, puerarin increased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression in the substantia nigra by 85.52% and 84.26% in Pue-50 group and Pue-100 group, and upregulated the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) by 41.24% in Pue-50 group and 35.20% in Pue-100 group, and decreased ubiquitin expression by 47.55% in Pue-50 group and 69.15% in Pue-100 group. These data indicated that puerarin alleviated the oxidative stress and apoptosis in a PD cellular model, protected the dopaminergic neurons against rotenone toxicity and decreased the abnormal protein overexpressing in PD animal models. These findings suggest that puerarin may develop into a neuroprotective alternative for patients with PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hefeng Central Hospital, Hefeng, Enshi, Hubei 445800, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Hefeng Central Hospital, Hefeng, Enshi, Hubei 445800, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and Mailman Neuroscience Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China. Electronic address: nianxiongtjmu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430022, China. Electronic address: wangtaowh@yahoo.cn.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012402:Rotenone; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007529:Isoflavones; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C493454:Slc18a2 protein, rat; D025801:Ubiquitin; D050493:Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins; D012402:Rotenone; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; C033607:puerarin
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; apoptosis; oxidative stress; puerarin