"Decreasing nigral iron levels "
Neurorescue Effect of Rosmarinic Acid on 6-Hydroxydopamine-Lesioned
Nigral Dopamine Neurons in Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.
J Mol Neurosci. 2011 Dec 29.
Wang J, Xu H, Jiang H, Du X, Sun P, Xie J.
Department of Neurosurgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical
College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266003, China.
Abstract
Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound.
It has been reported that RA possessed antioxidant and anti-
inflammatory properties.
Our previous study showed that RA could protect MES23.5 dopaminergic
cells against 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neurotoxicity in
vitro.
The purpose of this study was to explore the neuroreparative
(neurorescue) effect of RA on 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model of Parkinson's
disease (PD) in vivo.
In this study, the rats were given RA orally after intrastriatal 6-
OHDA lesion.
Results showed that the dopamine content in the striatum decreased and
the numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons reduced
after 6-OHDA treatment.
RA treatment after 6-OHDA administration could restore these changes.
Further studies demonstrated that 6-OHDA treatment increased the iron-
staining positive cells, which were markedly decreased by RA
treatment.
Moreover, RA suppressed the increased ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 at gene level
induced by 6-OHDA.
This indicates that the neurorescue effects of RA against 6-ODHA-
induced degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system were
achieved by decreasing nigral iron levels and regulating the ratio of
Bcl-2/Bax gene expression.
PMID:22205146
Rosmarinic acidFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rosmarinic acid
Rosmarinic acid is a natural phenol antioxidant carboxylic acid found in many Lamiaceae herbs used commonly as culinary herbs such as lemon balm, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme and peppermint.[1] Chemically, rosmarinic acid is an ester of caffeic acid with 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid. It is a red-orange powder that is slightly soluble in water, but well soluble in most organic solvents