title: Cistanche tubulosaProtects Dopaminergic Neurons through Regulation of Apoptosis and Glial Cell-Derived Neurotrophic Factor:in vivoandin vitro.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with the pathological hallmark of reduced nigrostriatal dopamine. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical practice, the nanopowder ofCistanche tubulosahas therapeutic effects on PD. To identify the therapeutic mechanism, this study tested the protective effect of different doses of MPP+-induced toxicity in MES23.5 cells using the MTT assay and in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD mice (vehicles). Immunohistochemistry was used to assess cytomorphology and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression. Behavioral tests in vehicles, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) tests in dopamine, immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of TH, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and its receptors. Our results demonstrated that theC. tubulosananopowder improved the viability of MPP+-treated cells, increased TH expression and reduced the number of apoptotic cells. It also increased Bcl2 protein expression and suppressed Bax protein expression in MPP+-treated cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition,C. tubulosananopowder improved the behavioral deficits in vehicle mice, reduced the stationary duration of swimming, enhanced the ability for spontaneous activity and increased the expression of GDNF, the GDNF family receptor alpha (GFRα1) and Ret in cells of the substantia nigra (SN). Furthermore, the protein expression of GDNF, GFRα1 and Ret increased after treatment with different doses ofC. tubulosananopowder, with a significant difference between the high-dose and vehicle groups. The protein expression of Bcl2 and Bax were similar in thein vivoandin vitro, which suggested thatC. tubulosananopowder has anti-apoptotic effects in neurons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Xiamen Hai Cang Hospital Xiamen, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geratology, Longyan First Hospital Longyan, China.
authors.forename: Shui-Fen
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Ya
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: Cistanche tubulosa; GDNF; Parkinson; apoptosis; dopaminergic neurons