Planta Med 2014; 80 - P1L98
DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1394755

Protective effect of WIN-1001X, an herbal extract, on Parkinson's disease experimental model via autophagy enhancement

J Kim 1, H Li 1, H Kim 1, HO Yang 1
  • 1Natural Medicine Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Gangneung, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea

To find out if autophagy can rescue the damages in Parkinson's disease (PD), we examined the autophagy enhancing effect of WIN-1001X, an herbal extract containing Angelica tenuissima Nakai, Polygala tenuifolia and Dimocarpus longan Lour, on cells and on MPTP rodent models of PD. After 24h from WIN-1001X treatment on SH-SY5Y cells, autophagy-related proteins were measured. 3-MA was also used to check the relationship between WIN-1001X and autophagy. For behavioral changes and initial detection of autophagy enhancement in vivo, acute MPTP rodent model was used. MPTP 22 mg/kg were injected i.p. 4 times on first experimental day to induce severe PD-like symptoms in mice, and daily WIN-1001X 100 mg/kg treatment was continued for next 3 days. Subchronic MPTP rodent model was also used for analysis. After 2 days of WIN-1001X (100 and 200 mg/kg) pre-treatment, MPTP 30 mg/kg single i.p. injection was carried out for next 5 consecutive days. After 1 week from last MPTP injection day, mice brains were dissected and analyzed. WIN-1001X exhibited no toxicity in cells. WIN-1001X significantly induced LC3II/I, GATE16, DOR and Beclin-1 protein expressions. In addition, p-AMPK protein expressions were also significantly increased with WIN-1001X treatment. Running behavior was measured by rota-rod test on 1st and 3 rd days after MPTP injection. Significant decrease of running time caused by MPTP injection was rescued by WIN-1001X treatment. LC3II/I, DOR and GATE16 protein expressions were also significantly increased in the midbrains of WIN-1001X treated group. Significant neuronal cell rescue against MPTP toxicity was observed by tyrosine hydroxylase detection in the brains of subchronic MPTP rodent model. Furthermore, LC3II/I, Beclin-1 and p-ULK(S757) protein expressions were increased while mTOR and p62 protein expressions were decreased in WIN-1001X treated groups which, altogether, reflects the beneficial effect of WIN-1001X in enhancing the autophagy.

Keywords: WIN-1001X, Parkinson's disease, Autophagy, Natural medicine, MPTP