Parkinson´s disease (PD) pathology progresses throughout the nervous system. Whereas motor symptoms are always present, there is a high variability in the prevalence of non-motor symptoms. It has been postulated that the progression of the pathology is based on a prion-like disease mechanism partly due to the seeding effect of endocytosed-alpha-synuclein (ASYN) on the endogenous ASYN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease (PD) is known to involve the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the enteric nervous system (ENS). Functional changes in PNS and ENS appear early in the course of the disease and are responsible for some of the non-motor symptoms observed in PD patients like constipation, that can precede the appearance of motor symptoms by years. Here we analyzed the effect of the pesticide rotenone, a mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor, on the function and neuronal composition of the ENS by measuring intestinal contractility in a tissue bath and by analyzing related protein expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of powder particle size on the cytoprotective and antioxidant activity of (HH) and (SN), two medicinal plants more commonly known as ivy and figwort, against HO-induced oxidative stress in mouse primary spleen cells. Thus, the preventive effects of powders of 3 different granulometric classes (50-100 μm, 100-180 μm and 180-315 μm) and those of the hydroethanolic (HE) extract from HH and SN on oxidative stress were compared by monitoring reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, malondialdehyde (MDA) production, and the activity of enzymatic antioxidants including catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Results showed that pretreatment with the 3 fine powders from both plants generally offered to HO-exposed spleen cells, a protection against oxidative stress, highlighted by a significant decrease of both ROS formation and the level of MDA ( < 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, cytoprotective and antioxidant activities of (RC) and (SA), medicinal plants, were studied on mouse primary splenocytes by comparing Controlled Differential Sieving process (CDSp), which is a novel green solvent-free process, a conventional technique, employing hydroethanolic extraction (HEE). Thus, preventive antioxidant activity of three plant powders of homogeneous particle sizes, 50-100 µm, 100-180 µm and 180-315 µm, dissolved directly in the cellular buffer, were compared to those of hydroethanolic (HE) extract, at 2 concentrations (250 and 500 µg/mL) in HO-treated spleen cells. Overall, compared to HE extract, the superfine powders, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons, pathological accumulation of alpha-synuclein and motor symptoms, but also by non-motor symptoms. Metabolic abnormalities including body weight loss have been reported in patients and could precede by several years the emergence of classical motor manifestations. However, our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying body weight loss in PD is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gastro-intestinal peptide ghrelin has been assigned many functions. These include appetite regulation, energy metabolism, glucose homeostasis, intestinal motility, anxiety, memory or neuroprotection. In the last decade, this pleiotropic peptide has been proposed as a therapeutic agent in gastroparesis for diabetes and in cachexia for cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Endocrinol Metab
February 2015
In restrictive-type anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, physical activity is usually associated with food restriction, but its physiological consequences remain poorly characterized. In female mice, we evaluated the impact of voluntary physical activity with/without chronic food restriction on metabolic and endocrine parameters that might contribute to AN. In this protocol, FRW mice (i.
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