| Objective This research is aimed to investigate the antiparkinsonian effect of Bushen Huoxue by evaluating behavioral changes of rats pre- and post-treatment and assessing the level of proteins in Nrf2 mediated antioxidant pathway in a rat Parkinson's disease(PD) model.Methods We utilized a rat model of PD by damaging substantia nigra via 6-hydroxydopamine. Twenty rats confirmed with PD were randomly divided into two groups, with ten rats in treatment group ( BSHXG group) and ten rats in model group,other ten SD rats were selected in normal group. BSHXG was applied through intragastric administration to treatment group once per day for 8 weeks. The rats in normal and model group were administrated by the same volume of normal saline. Western blot was applied to investigate the expression change of Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1, BDNF, 5-HT, TH and DRD1 in substantia nigra of rats.Results The mean revolution circles of rats in treatment group was 86.4±11.8 in 30 minutes, sharply lower than that in pre-treated rats, 264.8±19.3 in 30 minutes (P<0.01).Compared with the normal group, the Nrf2, HO-1, TH and DRD1 in control group was significantly reduced(P<0.05), the NQO1, BDNF and 5-HT in control group was also declined(P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1, 5-HT and TH in treatment group was remarkably higher than that in model group(P<0.01), the BDNF and DRD1 in treatment group was also increased(P<0.05). There was no apparent difference in the expression of Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1, BDNF, 5-HT, TH and DRD1 between the rats in treatment group and normal group (P>0.05), the difference was statistically insignificant.Conclusion The antiparkinsonian potency of Bushen Huoxue is relevant to its neuroprotective effect resulted from the activation of Nrf2-mediated antioxidant pathways: up-regulation of BDNF and 5-HT in substantia nigra. |
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