The Effect of Docosahexaenoic Acid on Visual Evoked Potentials in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease: The Role of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Nuclear Factor Kappa-B

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in a mice model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Mice model was created by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and DHA was given by gavage. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), caspase-3 activities, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels were determined in substantia nigra (SN) and retina. Cyclooxygenase-2 intensities were also determined immunohistochemically. The tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunolabelling was significantly decreased in MPTP group compared to control. Docosahexaenoic acid decreased dopaminergic neuron death in MPTP + DHA group when compared to MPTP group. Mice treated with MPTP showed motor deficits as compared to control. Significant improvement was observed in MPTP + DHA group when compared to MPTP group. Treatment with MPTP significantly increased the activity of COX-2 and total COX in SN when compared to the control group. Docosahexaenoic acid caused a significant decrease in total COX and COX-2 activity in SN of mice given MPTP. Cyclooxygenase-2 showed strong immunostaining in MPTP group when compared to other groups in SN. Levels of PGE2 increased in MPTP group when compared to control in SN. Docosahexaenoic acid treatment in MPTP group reduced PGE2 in SN. Nuclear factor kappa-B levels were found to be decreased in SN of MPTP group. The mean latencies of P1, N1, P2, N2, P3, N3, P4, N4, and P5 VEP components were significantly prolonged in MPTP group when compared to control. In MPTP + DHA group, the mean latencies of all components except P5 returned to control values. Current data shows that DHA treatment improves prolonged VEPs latencies and locomotor activity.

The effect of ingested sulfite on visual evoked potentials, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant status of brain in normal and sulfite oxidase-deficient aged rats

“…VEPs represent relevant information on determining the integrity of the visual system and have an accepted clinical utility regarding visual and other neuropathologies (Chiappa and Ropper, 1982;Halliday et al, 1972;Ozsoy et al, 2011;Wright et al, 1986). In addition to this, it is well known that VEPs are a sensitive method for detecting early alterations of optic pathway in experimental toxicology studies (Agar et al, 2000;Aydin et al, 2005;Kucukatay et al, 2006a;Otto et al, 1988;Savcioglu et al, 2011).…”

Dopaminergic cell populations of the rat substantia nigra are differentially affected by essential fatty acid dietary restriction over two generations

“…It has been demonstrated that the prostaglandin PGE2, a derivative of AA via cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), can induce neurotoxic effects on subpopulations of SN dopaminergic neurons in a dose and receptor-dependent manner (Carrasco et al, 2007). Furthermore, it has been also shown that dietary treatment with DHA caused a significant decrease in COX-2 activity and PGE2 levels in mice SN, reducing MPTP-induced dopaminergic cell death (Ozsoy et al, 2011).…”

Docosahexaenoic acid provides protective mechanism in bilaterally MPTP-lesioned rat model of Parkinson's disease

“…In the present study, the DHA dose was selected according to previous studies [28][29][30][31][32][33]. Daily intake of DHA was used with different doses in different experimental studies.…”

“…Rats were randomly divided into four experimental groups as follows: (1) control; (2) DHA-treated; (3) MPTP-induced; (4) MPTP-induced + DHA-treated. DHA (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) was dissolved in corn oil at a concentration of 0.046 M and was given to the treatment groups for 30 days (36 mg/kg/day) by gavage [28][29][30][31][32][33]. In order to eliminate the effects of daily gavage and vehicle, the control and MPTP-induced rats received a similar volume of corn oil alone.…”