Quercetin supplementation is effective in improving mitochondrial dysfunctions induced by 3-nitropropionic acid: Implications in Huntington's disease

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the beneficial effect of quercetin supplementation in 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) induced model of Huntington's disease (HD). HD was induced in rats by administering sub-chronic dose of 3-NP, intraperitoneally, twice daily for 17days. Quercetin was supplemented at a dose of 25mg/kg body weight by oral gavage for 21days. At the end of treatment, mitochondrial bioenergetics, mitochondrial swelling, oxidative stress, neurobehavioral deficits and histopathological changes were analyzed. Quercetin supplementation was able to reverse 3-NP induced inhibition of respiratory chain complexes, restore ATP levels, attenuate mitochondrial oxidative stress in terms of lipid peroxidation and prevent mitochondrial swelling. Quercetin administration also restored the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase along with thiol content in 3-NP treated animals. Beneficial effect of quercetin administration was observed on 3-NP induced motor deficits analyzed by narrow beam walk and footprint analysis. Histopathological analysis of 3-NP treated rats revealed pyknotic nuclei and astrogliosis in striatum, which were reduced or absent in quercetin supplemented animals. Altogether, our results show that quercetin supplementation to 3-NP induced HD animals ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunctions, oxidative stress and neurobehavioral deficits in rats showing potential of this flavonoid in maintaining mitochondrial functions, suggesting a putative role of quercetin in HD management.

Mitochondrial modulators improve lipid composition and attenuate memory deficits in experimental model of Huntington’s disease

“…It is well known that, mitochondrial oxidative stress is recognized to play an important role in HD pathology [11]; therefore, supplementation with antioxidants that could attenuate mitochondrial oxidative stress may improve mitochondrial lipid composition. Several therapeutic approaches, which could interfere with mechanisms involved in HD progression, are currently being investigated [6,12].…”

Protective Effect of Quercetin on the Development of Preimplantation Mouse Embryos against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Oxidative Injury

“…Accumulating evidence has shown that quercetin possesses efficient antioxidant activity [21]–[24]. Animal experiments suggest that quercetin protected the brain, liver, and other tissues against oxidative stress induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury, toxic compounds and other factors [22]–[24].…”

Flavonoid Hesperidin Induces Synapse Formation and Improves Memory Performance through the Astrocytic TGF-β1

“…Most of the data are related to the potential of flavonoids to prevent cognitive deficits or rescue learning and memory impairments in pathological contexts, including animal models for Alzheimer’s (Gu et al, 2016), Parkinson’s (Antunes et al, 2014) and Huntington’s diseases (Sandhir and Mehrotra, 2013) and in Multiple Sclerosis (Makar et al, 2016). Nevertheless, it has been showed that these compounds may also improve the cognitive ability of healthy young and old animals (van Praag et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2008; Rendeiro et al, 2013).…”