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Neuroprotective Role of Withania somnifera Root Extract in Maneb–Paraquat Induced Mouse Model of Parkinsonism

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Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and these days a lot of emphasis is given on the treatment of this disease using herbal medicines. The present study evaluates the neuroprotective effect of Withania somnifera (Ws) root extract on Parkinsonian mice. The mice were divided into three groups; the first group served as control, the second group was given maneb (MB) and paraquat (PQ) and the last group was administered MB–PQ along with Ws root extract for 3, 6 and 9 weeks. The behavioral studies showed a significant improvement in the motor movement patterns and gripping ability of Ws root extract exposed Parkinsonian mice. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunostaining was reduced in the substantia nigra of MB–PQ exposed mice, while Ws co-exposure restored TH immunostaining significantly. Additionally, our results also demonstrate generation of oxidative stress in the nigrostriatal region of MB–PQ exposed mice. There was a marked decline in the level of catalase and a simultaneous increase in the level of nitrite and lipid peroxidation in Parkinsonian mice. Thus, the Ws root extract have shown to counteract the pro-oxidants and their associated oxidative stress in the PD model studied here. Our results clearly indicate the usefulness of Ws root extract in providing protection against MB–PQ induced nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration and marked improvement in the behavioral, anatomical and the biochemical deformities.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to Dr Andrew Wolfe, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Miss Samantha Leahy, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada and Dr. Ramesh Raina, Chair, Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA for their constructive suggestions while writing the paper. Authors wish to acknowledge Dr. T.D. Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, IMS, BHU, for helping us to prepare ethanolic root extract of Ws in his laboratory. The authors sincerely thank Indian council of Medical research (ICMR), New Delhi, India for providing research fellowships to Jay Prakash, University Grant Commission, New Delhi, India for providing fellowship to Shikha Chouhan and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for providing research fellowship to Satyndra Kumar Yadav. The study was supported financially by Department of Science and Technology (DST P-07-520) New Delhi, India. The authors report no conflicts of interest and they themselves are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, UP, India

    Jay Prakash, Satyndra Kumar Yadav, Shikha Chouhan & Surya Pratap Singh

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  1. Jay Prakash
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Correspondence to Surya Pratap Singh.

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Prakash, J., Yadav, S.K., Chouhan, S. et al. Neuroprotective Role of Withania somnifera Root Extract in Maneb–Paraquat Induced Mouse Model of Parkinsonism. Neurochem Res 38, 972–980 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-013-1005-4

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