title: Excessive levels of nitric oxide in rat model of Parkinson's disease induced by rotenone.
abstract: Systemic rotenone models of Parkinson's disease (PD) are highly reproducible and may provide evidence on the pathogenesis of PD. In the present study, male Sprague-Dawley rats (1-year-old) were subcutaneously administered with rotenone (1.5 mg/kg/day) for six days and observed for the following three weeks. Compared with the control rats, a significant decrease was observed in the body weight and a marked increase was observed in the areas under the behavioral scoring curves in the rotenone-treated rats. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the abundance of nigral tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons was markedly reduced following rotenone treatment. ELISA and neurochemical assays demonstrated a significant increase in the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and NO synthase, whereas a marked decrease was observed in the thiol levels in the brains of the rotenone-treated rats. Thus, subacute rotenone treatment was found to induce behavioral deficits and the loss of nigral TH-positive neurons which may be associated with the excessive levels of NO in the rat brains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Shaoxing Second Hospital, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, P.R. China ; Department of Radiotherapy, Shaoxing Campus, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, P.R. China ; Department of Clinical Medicine, Shaoxing University School of Medicine, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312099, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Kui
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Center, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Jiangsu University Affiliated People's Hospital, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212002, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shaoxing University School of Medicine, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312099, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hai-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medicine, Shaoxing University School of Medicine, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312099, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Shaoxing University School of Medicine, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312099, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Shaoxing University School of Medicine, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312099, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Zhejiang University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ai-Jing
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; nitric oxide; rotenone