title: Hypericum Perforatum Hydroalcoholic Extract Mitigates Motor Dysfunction and is Neuroprotective in Intrastriatal 6-Hydroxydopamine Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder with selective and progressive decline of nigral dopaminergic neurons. Hypericum perforatum L. (H. perforatum, St. John's wort) has been traditionally used for management of different disorders, especially mild-to-moderate depression. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of H. perforatum extract against unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) toxicity and to unmask some involved mechanisms. Intrastriatal 6-OHDA-lesioned rats were treated with H. perforatum hydroalcoholic extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg/day started 1 week pre-surgery for 1 week post-surgery. The extract attenuated apomorphine-induced rotational behavior, decreased the latency to initiate and the total time on the narrow beam task, lowered striatal level of malondialdehyde and enhanced striatal catalase activity and reduced glutathione content, normalized striatal expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, tumor necrosis factor α with no significant effect on mitogen-activated protein kinase, lowered nigral DNA fragmentation, and prevented damage of nigral dopaminergic neurons with a higher striatal tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity. These findings reveal the beneficial effect of H. perforatum via attenuation of DNA fragmentation, astrogliosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kiasalari
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Tourandokht
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baluchnejadmojarad
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. mehjour@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roghani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D020902:Hypericum / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016627:Oxidopamine; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D014867:Water; D000431:Ethanol; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D016627:Oxidopamine; D002374:Catalase; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D005978:Glutathione; D001058:Apomorphine
keywords: 6-Hydroxydopamine; Astrogliosis; DNA fragmentation; Hypericum perforatum L.; Inflammation; Oxidative stress; Parkinson’s disease