Objective To investigate the protective effect of edaravone on substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons in mice with Parkinson's disease (PD).
Methods A total of 30 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, model group and treatment group. Model group and treatment group were intraperitoneally injected with paraquat (PQ) and maneb (Mb) to establish PD model. Treatment group were then administrated with edaravone. Their motor coordination and expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) were detected by immunohistochemistry and stereology.
Results Administration of edaravone significantly attenuated the impairment of behavioral performance (P<0.05), increased the number of TH-positive neurons and improved the cell morphology such as cell body, average sectional area, circumference and volume in SNc (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
Conclusion The present findings suggest that edaravone has a beneficial influence on nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in PD mice.
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