title: Levodopa improves learning and memory ability on global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injured rats in the Morris water maze test.
abstract: Previous studies have shown that levodopa (L-dopa) for 1-7days improved the consciousness level of certain patients who suffered from ischemia-reperfusion injury and were comatose for a long time period after cerebral resuscitation treatment. It also has an awakening effect on patients with disorders of consciousness. This study aimed to investigate whether L-dopa, which is used clinically to treat Parkinson's disease, might also ameliorate the behavior of rats following global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Fifty-six healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: shamoperated, global cerebral ischemia mode, 25mg/kg/d L-dopa intervention, and 50mg/kg/d L-dopa intervention. The level of consciousness and modified neurological severity score (NSS) of the rats in each group were measured before reperfusion and 6, 24, and 72h and 1-4 weeks after reperfusion. The Morris water maze test was used to assess behavior of rats 1 week after reperfusion and 2 weeks after reperfusion in each group. The results showed that after global cerebral ischemiareperfusion injury, neurological deficits of rats are severe, and space exploration capacity and learning and memory capacity are significantly decreased. L-dopa can shorten the duration of coma in rats following global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and improve the symptoms of neurological deficits and advanced learning and memory. In the range of the selected doses, the relationship between L-dopa and improvement of the neurological behavior in rats was not dose-dependent. Dopamine may be useful for treating severe ischemia-reperfusion brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine of China, Chinese Institute of Rehabilitation Science, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Injury and Rehabilitation, Beijing, PR China; Neural Injury and Repair Center, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenzhu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China; Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: liulixu_crrc@163.com.
authors.forename: Lixu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China; Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy; D007980:Levodopa / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015424:Reperfusion / Q000379:methods; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa
keywords: Behavior; Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury; Learning; Levodopa; Memory; Morris water maze