Ractopamine residue in meat might protect people from Parkinson disease.

There is still no curative treatment for the exasperating Parkinson disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Intracytoplasmic Lewy body composing of phosphorylated α-synuclein in dopaminergic neuronal cells has been recognized as the characteristic pathologic change and believed to be the cause of neuronal cell loss in Parkinson disease. Recently, β-adrenoreceptor antagonist was found to be correlated with an increasing incidence of Parkinson disease and β-adrenoreceptor agonist, capable of inhibiting gene expression of α-synuclein, was associated with a reduced incidence of it. Therefore, a hypothesis is raised that ractopamine, a β-adrenoreceptor agonist used as feed additive for increasing leanness of finishing cattle and swine, might provide protective effects for Parkinson disease and lower its incidence in the population consuming meat containing ractopamine residue.