Arbabi Elaheh, Hamidi Gholamali, Talaei Sayyed Alireza, Salami Mahmoud
Physiology Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2016 Dec;19(12):1285-1290. doi: 10.22038/ijbms.2016.7911.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder associated with motor disabilities and cognitive dysfunction as well. Evidence indicates that PD occurs less frequently in women than men, confirming a role for steroid hormones in protection of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons. It is reported that soy genistein, an estrogen agonist phytoestrogen, display neuroprotective effects against neuronal death. In this study we evaluated the effect of genistein in animal models of Parkinsonism (P) and Parkinsonism + ovariectomized (OP).
The experiments were carried out on the control, P and OP animals. Learning and memory abilities were evaluated using Morris water maze. The latency and speed of locating the platform were measured as cognitive indices. Motor behaviors were assessed by testing the animals in rota rod and the latency to fall from the rod was scored.
We found that Parkinsonism leads to the cognitive and motor disabilities; ovariectomy intensified these disorders. Whereas genistein treatment improved the maze performances in both P and OP animals it failed to influence the kinetic problems. Genistein displayed a neuroprotective effect on dopaminergic neurons.
Positive impact of genistein on the spatial learning and memory may reflect its effects on the nigrostriatal pathway and striatum. Nevertheless, ineffectiveness of genistein on the motor disorders, despite its neuroprotective impacts, led us to conclude that the cognitive improvement by genistein may also contribute to its effects in other areas of brain.
帕金森病（PD）是一种与运动障碍及认知功能障碍相关的进行性神经疾病。有证据表明，PD在女性中的发病率低于男性，这证实了类固醇激素在保护多巴胺能黑质纹状体神经元方面的作用。据报道，大豆异黄酮，一种雌激素激动剂植物雌激素，对神经元死亡具有神经保护作用。在本研究中，我们评估了染料木黄酮在帕金森病（P）和帕金森病 + 去卵巢（OP）动物模型中的作用。
实验在对照、P和OP动物上进行。使用莫里斯水迷宫评估学习和记忆能力。测量定位平台的潜伏期和速度作为认知指标。通过在转棒上测试动物来评估运动行为，并记录从棒上掉落的潜伏期得分。
我们发现帕金森病会导致认知和运动障碍；去卵巢会加剧这些障碍。而染料木黄酮治疗改善了P和OP动物的迷宫表现，但未能影响运动问题。染料木黄酮对多巴胺能神经元显示出神经保护作用。
染料木黄酮对空间学习和记忆的积极影响可能反映了其对黑质纹状体通路和纹状体的作用。然而，尽管染料木黄酮具有神经保护作用，但对运动障碍无效，这使我们得出结论，染料木黄酮对认知的改善也可能归因于其在大脑其他区域的作用。
