Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD), which is characterized by the decreased motor function and the loss of dopaminergic neurons, is a common neurodegenerative disorder in elders. There have been numerous in vitro and in vivo models developed to study mechanisms of PD and screen potential drug. Recently, dUCH-knockdown Drosophila model has been established and showed potential for screening antioxidants for PD treatment. The dUCH-knockdown Drosophila model of PD mimics most of main PD pathologies such as dopaminergic neurons degeneration, locomotor dysfunction, and shortage of dopamine in the brain. Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a nutritious vegetable containing a variety of antioxidants, levodopa, and dopamine, a neurotransmitter closely related to PD. Purslane has been reported to exert neuroprotective effects against several neurotoxins including rotenone and 6-OHDA in PD models. However, the recent data have not provided sufficient evidence for using purslane to treat PD or decelerate disease progression. Therefore, in this study, we utilized dUCH-knockdown fly to evaluate the capacity of purslane extracts for PD treatment. The results showed that purslane extracts improved locomotor ability in the larval stage and decelerated disease progression in the adult stage. Additionally, purslane extracts also reduced dopaminergic neuron degeneration. Taken together, our data strongly demonstrated that purslane extracts effectively rescued PD-like phenotypes in the fly model. This result contributed a foundation for further study on the application of purslane in PD treatment.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and affects approximately 3% of the population over the age of 65 [1]. e term parkinsonism refers to a clinical syndrome characterized by combinations of motor impairments including bradykinesia, tremor at rest, muscle rigidity, loss of postural reflexes, flexed posture, and freezing phenomenon [1]
Mouse is considered as an outstanding model of PD because of the high similarity between this organism and human. ere have been many remarkable PD mouse models induced by neurotoxins and genetic factors [5]
Purslane aqueous extract showed its high potential for PD treatment by improvements in PD-like phenotypes in the fly model with dUCH knockdown
Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and affects approximately 3% of the population over the age of 65 [1]. e term parkinsonism refers to a clinical syndrome characterized by combinations of motor impairments including bradykinesia, tremor at rest, muscle rigidity, loss of postural reflexes, flexed posture, and freezing phenomenon [1]. E term parkinsonism refers to a clinical syndrome characterized by combinations of motor impairments including bradykinesia, tremor at rest, muscle rigidity, loss of postural reflexes, flexed posture, and freezing phenomenon [1]. Nonmotor symptoms such as fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and dementia have been reported in PD patients [1]. Ere have been many remarkable PD mouse models induced by neurotoxins (such as MPTP and paraquat) and genetic factors (such as PARKIN, PINK-1, DJ-1, LRRK-2, and α-Synuclein) [5]. In 2018, Tran et al developed a novel PD fly model by knocking down dUCH, a homolog gene of human UCH-L1, in DA neuron. is fly model of PD exhibited PD-like phenotypes including defects in locomotor abilities and progressive DA neuron degeneration [11]
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