Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one among the most leading neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease, with a prevalence of approximately 0.5–1% among those 65–69 years of age. Efforts to vitiate this disease are ongoing, and several treatment modes such as Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) have been in place since 1993. Glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) protects, regenerates, and improves the metabolism of substantia nigra pars compacta neurons (SNpc), and it increases the high-affinity dopamine uptake. It has been recently reported that amodiquine could attenuates the behavioral deficits of an animal model of Parkinson’s disease, nevertheless it mechanism is obscure. We sought to demonstrate the mechanism of neuro-protection effect of amodiquine and ascertain its corroborative effect when used togather with GDNF. We show herein that combined therapy (GDNF and amodiaquine) ameliorated behavioral deficits of PD animal models as compared to single-factor treatment. TH positive neurons increased significantly upon combined therapy treatment, and besides, GDNF and amodiaquine interact functionally to protect dopaminergic neurons through the PIK-3/Akt pathway. We also found that combined therapy (GDNF and amodiaquine) mediates its action through a distinct trans-membrane tyrosine kinase Ret receptor by amplifying its effect. Slight elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were noticed in amodiaquine treated groups, alarming the bio-utility. These findings collectively suggest an interplay between GDNF and amodiaquine and co-express to exert neuronal protection hence a promising approach in PD therapy. Despite its undisputed effect on neuro-protection, we report that amodiaquine may not be safe, particularly in translation to human beings' trial settings.
Safranal-promoted differentiation and survival of dopaminergic neurons in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease
