Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2014, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (9): 931-936.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.133135

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Zhichan decoction induces differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease rats after neural stem cell transplantation

Huifen Shi 1, Jie Song 2, Xuming Yang 3   

  1. 1 Department of Neurology, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
    2 Department of Encephalopathy, Liu’an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liu’an, Anhui Province, China
    3 College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • Received:2014-04-21 Online:2014-05-20 Published:2014-05-20
  • Contact: Xuming Yang, College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China, fslbest@126.com.
  • Supported by:

    This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of    China, No. 30772870.

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Abstract:

The goal of this study was to increase the dopamine content and reduce dopaminergic metabolites in the brain of Parkinson’s disease rats. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, we found that dopamine and dopaminergic metabolite (dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid) content in the midbrain of Parkinson’s disease rats was increased after neural stem cell transplantation + Zhichan decoction, compared with neural stem cell transplantation alone. Our genetic algorithm results show that dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels achieve global optimization. Neural stem cell transplantation + Zhichan decoction increased dihydroxyphenylacetic acid levels up to 10-fold, while transplantation alone resulted in a 3-fold increment. Homovanillic acid levels showed no apparent change. Our experimental findings show that after neural stem cell transplantation in Parkinson’s disease rats, Zhichan decoction can promote differentiation of neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons.

Key words: nerve regeneration, traditional Chinese medicine, neurodegeneration, Parkinson’s disease, rat model, Zhichan decoction, stem cell transplantation, dopamine metabolite, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, homovanillic acid, curve fitting equation, genetic algorithm, optimization model, NSFC grant, neural degeneration