Troxerutin exerts neuroprotection in 6-hydroxydopamine lesion rat model of Parkinson's disease: Possible involvement of PI3K/ERβ signaling

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive loss of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra and with multiple incapacitating motor and non-motor symptoms. Troxerutin is a natural bioflavonoid with nephro- and hepato-protective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we evaluated its possible neuroprotective effect in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model of PD. Intrastriatal 6-OHDA-lesioned rats were pretreated with troxerutin at a dose of 150 mg/kg/day for 1 week. Results showed that troxerutin mitigates apomorphine-induced motor asymmetry and lowered the latency to initiate and the total time in the narrow beam task and this beneficial effect was lost following central application of estrogen receptor β (ERβ) antagonist or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor. In addition, troxerutin reduced striatal malondialdehyde (MDA) as an index of lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species, glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) as a marker of astrogliosis, and DNA fragmentation as an apoptotic marker with no significant alteration of catalase activity and nitrite level. Meanwhile, troxerutin was capable to prevent loss of nigral tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons. These findings indicate neuroprotective potential of troxerutin in 6-OHDA rat model of PD through mitigation of apoptosis, astrogliosis, and oxidative stress and part of its effect is dependent on PI3K/ERβ signaling.