Esculetin protects striatal neurons from 3-nitropropionic acid induced neurotoxicity by modulating behavioural and biochemical alterations of male wistar rats

Author: 
Arpita Karandikar and Sumathi Thangarajan

3-Nitropropionic acid is an inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase known to cause blood brain barrier. It is used as a model for Huntington’s disease by injecting in rodents and primates. HD is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by chorea, dementia and cognitive decline. HD affects large number of population, but there is no cure till date. HD is caused due to expansion of polyglutamine repeats in Huntingtin gene, which leads to production of mutant huntingtin. In our study, we have used esculetin to study its protective effects on 3-NP induced neurotoxicity. Esculetin is a coumarin with well known beneficial properties. It is present in Chinese medicinal plants. We have given two doses of esculetin (25mg/kg and 50mg/kg) to rats who were administered with 3-NP (10mg/kg b.w.) the results showed that there was a significant increase in the levels of ATPases and Lactate dehydrogenase upon esculetin treatment, which had otherwise decreased due to 3-NP administration. Esculetin also increased the motor coordination of rats as shown by reduced fall-off time on rotarod apparatus. Cresyl violet staining showed an increased number of inflamed nissl positive cells in 3-NP induced rats. Thus, this study shows that Esculetin shows neuroprotective activites against 3-nitropropionic acid induced neurotoxicity.

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DOI: 
http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijcar.2018.10522.1786
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