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Mucuna pruriens proves more effective than L ‐DOPA in Parkinson's disease animal model
Author(s) -
Hussian Ghazala,
Manyam Bala V.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1573(199709)11:6<419::aid-ptr120>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - mucuna pruriens , carbidopa , pharmacology , parkinson's disease , medicine , levodopa , pharmacokinetics , traditional medicine , disease
Seeds of the Mucuna pruriens plant, now known to contain L ‐DOPA, have long been used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease patients in ancient Eastern Indian ethnotherapeutics. Following validation of the intrastraital 6‐OHDA injection with amphetamine in the parkinsonian rat model, the animals were fed synthetic L ‐DOPA (125 or 250 mg/kg) or Mucuna pruriens endocarp (MPE, 2.5 or 5.0 g/kg) mixed with rat chow ( n =6, for each dose and drug). Controls received no drug. An additional dose of L ‐DOPA or MPE in the same doses plus carbidopa (50 mg/kg) were administered via gavage (controls received only carbidopa 50 mg/kg) 1 h prior to testing with rotometer. Contralateral rotation (to the side of the 6‐OHDA lesion) (CLR) was recorded for 240 min as a measure of antiparkinsonian activity. Results indicated that dose for dose, MPE showed twice the antiparkinsonian activity compared with synthetic L ‐DOPA in inducing CLR in the parkinsonian animal model. This study suggests that MPE may contain unidentified antiparkinsonian compounds in addition to L ‐DOPA, or it may have adjuvants that enhance the efficacy of L ‐DOPA. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.