Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
Author: Florencia Echeverria | email: florencia.echeverria@uner.edu.ar
Florencia Echeverria 1°, Liliana Teresita Tribbia 1°, Andrea Cecilia Cura 1°, Roy Cristian Rivero 2°, Irene Rita Eloisa Taravini 1°
1° Laboratorio de Neurobiología Experimental. LNE-ICTAER-UNER-CONICET, Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
2° Desarrollo y mejoramiento de alimentos de calidad a partir de recursos de Entre Rios. DyMACRER-ICTAER-UNER-CONICET, Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
The progressive death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra leads to the onset of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Numerous studies have reported that the consumption of yerba mate (YM) is associated with a lower risk of develop PD. We have observed that long-term administration of YM exerts a neuroprotective effect on dopaminergic neurons in an animal model of PD. In vivo and in vitro studies have shown that YM exerts beneficial effects in different pathologies, associated with its antioxidant capacity. Our objective is to evaluate whether the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of YM are related to its neuroprotective effect on the nigrostriatal system of hemiparkinsonian mice. The animals received an infusion of YM or water for 4 months. They were then lesioned by unilateral striatal injection with 6-OHDA and sacrificed at 2 or 30 days after lesion. YM-treated animals showed increased locomotor activity in an open field after injury compared to controls. The level of YM bioactive compounds in plasma was verified by HPLC. We are analyzing the antioxidant capacity in the striatum and the ventral midbrain and the expression of GFAP in the striatum. The behavioral analyses suggest that long-term treatment with YM has a modest effect on locomotor behavior. We hope that the results of the postmortem analysis will allow us to expand our knowledge about the possible anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect of long-term YM treatment on the injured nigrostriatal system.