Objective: The present study evaluates the possible protective effect of curcumin on rats exposed to aluminum which is a major risk factor of parkinson’s disease.

Background: Aluminum is the most abundant metal on the earth crust, it can access to the body via gostrointestinal and lung tissue, it crosses the blood-brain barrier and forms deposits in brain regions such as substantia nigra of patients affected by Parkinson’s disease and in other cerebral areas of different neurodegenerative diseases, some previous studies demonstrated that aluminum induced changes in many neurotransmitter levels including dopaminergic system. Medicinal plants are very variable but some of them is used as spice such us curcumin witch is extracted from the rhizome of the plant ‘Curcuma longa’.Curcumin exhibit a variety of biological and pharmacological activities such as namely antioxidant potential.

Methods: Experiments were carried out on wistar rats exposed to aluminum chlorid(0,3%) in drinking water during 4months since intra-uterine age, the aluminum intoxicated group received concomitantly curcumin by oral gavage (30mg/kg B.W.) for the same duration as mentioned previously, we evaluated the locomotor activity of rats using ‘open field test’ and using the immunohistochemistry procedure, with tyrosine hydroxylase antibody ( TH: the key enzyme of dopamine synthesis) we evaluated the TH immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra.

Results: Our results showed, a significant decrease of TH immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra in chronic aluminum intoxicated rats,this decreased of TH immunolabelling was remedied with daily curcumin administration.Concerning the locomotor performance, aluminum induced a significant decrease of locomotor activity in aluminum intoxicated group.In the aluminum intoxicated-curcumin treated group, the locomotor activity increased significatively in comparison with aluminum intoxicated group.

Conclusions: Curcumin might have a neuroprotective effect against aluminum-induced alterations on dopamine neurotransmission and locomotor activity witch are the major signs of Parkinson’s disease , thus curcumin might be the preventive key of Parkinson’s disease.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/could-curcumin-be-the-preventive-key-of-parkinsons-disease/