BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. An inflammatory reaction seems to be involved in the pathological process in PD. Prospective clinical studies with various nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have shown that ibuprofen decreases the risk of PD. In the present study we investigated the influence of ibuprofen on dopaminergic neuron...

Jitai tablet (JTT) is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders. We previously demonstrated that JTT treatment led to increased level of dopamine transporter (DAT) in the striatum, thus indicating that JTT might have therapeutic potential for Parkinson's disease (PD), which is characterized by dysregulated dopamine (DA) transmission and decreased striatal DAT expre...

The dose- and time-dependent changes of in vivo radioligand binding to the neuronal membrane dopamine transporter (DAT) and vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) were examined in mouse brain after MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) administrations. Regional brain distribution studies were done in male C57BL/6 mice using simultaneous injections of d-threo-[(3)H]methylph...

Chronic ethanol consumption increases mitochondrial oxidative stress and sensitivity to form the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). The mechanism responsible for increased MPTP sensitivity in ethanol-exposed mitochondria and its relation to mitochondrial Ca(2+) handling is unknown. Herein, we investigated whether increased sensitivity to MPTP induction in liver mitochondria from...

In animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD), 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is one of the most widely used agents that damages the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway. However, brain structural changes in response to MPTP remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate in vivo longitudinal changes in gray matter (GM) volume and white matter (WM) microstructure in primate mo...

1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) damages the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway as seen in Parkinson's disease (PD), a common neurodegenerative disorder with no effective protective treatment. Consistent with a role of glial cells in PD neurodegeneration, here we show that minocycline, an approved tetracycline derivative that inhibits microglial activation independently of it...

The 'mitochondrial permeability transition', characterized by a sudden induced change of the inner mitochondrial membrane permeability for water as well as for small substances (</=1.5 kDa), has been known for three decades. Research interest in the entity responsible for this phenomenon, the 'mitochondrial permeability transition pore' (mPTP), has dramatically increased after demonstration tha...

Nigrostriatal degeneration, the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD), is mirrored by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) intoxication. MPTP-treated animals show the common behavioral, motor, and pathological features of human disease. We demonstrated previously that adoptive transfer of Copaxone (Cop-1) immune cells protected the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway i...

Elucidation of the biochemical steps leading to the 1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced degeneration of the nigro-striatal dopamine (DA) pathway has provided new clues to the pathophysiology of Parkinson's Disease (PD). In line with the enhancement of MPTP toxicity by diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), here we demonstrate how other CYP450 (2E1) inhibitors, such as diallyl sul...

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a critical problem in the chemotherapy of cancers. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) responds poorly to chemotherapy owing to its potent MDR. Chemotherapeutic drugs primarily act by inducing apoptosis of cancer cells, and defects in apoptosis may result in MDR. Mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) is implicated as an important event in the control of cell...