Xu L, Hao LP, Yu J, Cheng SY, Li F, Ding SM, Zhang R. Curcumin protects against rotenone-induced Parkinson's disease in mice by inhibiting microglial NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction.
Heliyon 2023;
9:e16195. [PMID:
37234646 PMCID:
PMC10208821 DOI:
10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16195]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Currently, treatment options can only relieve symptoms but cannot prevent, slow, or halt the neurodegenerative process of PD. Much evidence has suggested that microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is involved in the pathophysiology of PD. As an anti-inflammatory agent, curcumin may exert a neuroprotective effect on PD. However, its mechanism has yet to be demonstrated clearly. Our results indicated that curcumin alleviated rotenone-induced behavioral defects, dopamine neuron loss, and microglial activation. Besides, the NF-κB signaling pathway, the NLRP3 inflammasome, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-18 and IL-1β, contributed to the microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in PD. Furthermore, Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission causing mitochondrial dysfunction also had an etiological role in the process. This study suggests that curcumin protects against rotenone-induced PD by inhibiting microglial NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction in mice. Thus, curcumin may be a neuroprotective drug with promising prospects in PD.
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