Physiological neuroprotection by melatonin in a 6-hydroxydopamine model of Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Brain research 2006-01, Vol.1068 (1), p.230-236
• Main Authors: Sharma, Rohita, McMillan, Catherine R., Tenn, Catherine C., Niles, Lennard P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Apomorphine - antagonists & inhibitors; Apomorphine - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - biosynthesis; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Contralateral compensation; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Densitometry; Dopamine Agonists - pharmacology; Functional Laterality - physiology; Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - biosynthesis; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Medical sciences; Melatonin - pharmacology; Neostriatum - drug effects; Neostriatum - enzymology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neuroprotective Agents; Oxidopamine; Parkinson Disease, Secondary - chemically induced; Parkinson Disease, Secondary - prevention & control; Partial lesion; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptor, Melatonin, MT1 - drug effects; Receptors, Melatonin - drug effects; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - biosynthesis; Stereotyped Behavior - drug effects; Striatum; Sympatholytics; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase - metabolism; Tyrosine Hydroxylase
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2005.10.084

There is considerable evidence that pharmacological doses of the pineal hormone, melatonin, are neuroprotective in diverse models of neurodegeneration including Parkinson's disease. However, there is limited information about the effects of physiological doses of this hormone in similar models. In this study, rats were chronically treated with melatonin via drinking water following partial 6-hydroxydopamine lesioning in the striatum. The two doses of melatonin (0.4 μg/ml and 4.0 μg/ml) were within the reported physiological concentrations present in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid respectively. At 2 weeks after surgery, the higher dose of melatonin significantly attenuated rotational behavior in hemi-parkinsonian rats compared to similarly lesioned animals receiving either vehicle ( P