Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
Author: Andrea Cecilia Cura | email: cecilia.cura@uner.edu.ar
Andrea Cecilia Cura 1°, Liliana Teresita Tribbia 1°, Florencia Echeverria 1°, Lorena Rela 2°, Irene Rita Eloisa Taravini 1°
1° Laboratorio de Neurobiología Experimental. LNE-ICTAER-UNER-CONICET, Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, Argentina
2° Grupo de Neurociencia de Sistemas. GNS-IFIBIO-UBA-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
L-DOPA is the most effective drug for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD); however, long-term administration develops L-DOPA induced dyskinesia (LID). LID is associated with the remodeling of dendritic spines of striatal neurons and with intermittent fluctuations in brain dopamine levels, promoting neurodegeneration or contributing to the establishment of pathological mechanisms mediated by glia. Various approaches have been considered to slow the progression of PD and nutraceuticals have received attention. An inverse association between yerba mate (YM) consumption and the risk to develop PD was found. Besides, it was tested that YM favors survival and growth of dopaminergic neurons in culture. To assess whether YM has the potential to reduce LID, we conducted a pilot study in an animal model of PD. C57BL/6 mice received YM for 2 months and then were unilaterally lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine in the medial forebrain bundle. After one month, they received L-DOPA in dyskinetogenic doses for 14 days and the severity of the dyskinesias was recorded. Our preliminary results show that YM treatment exhibits a discernible trend to reduce LID in comparison to the control. Upcoming experiments will clarify whether long-term YM administration decreases the severity of LID, and whether its therapeutic effect could correlate with the degree of microglial and astrocytic reactivity, and plastic changes in the synaptic microarchitecture of striatal neurons.