Pailin Euaruksakul, Rossarin Tansawat, and Ratchanee Rodsiri

pp. 163 - 169

Abstract

Exposure to certain pesticides including rotenone, a mitochondrial complex I inhibitors, may cause the oxidative
damage to the dopaminergic neurons and contribute to Parkinson’s disease. Herein we demonstrate that ginseng extract
G115 could attenuate locomotor activity impairment in rotenone-induced parkinsonism rats. Rotenone was shown to significantly impair the movement of rat related to its ability to reduce free radical scavenging capability and superoxide dismutase
(SOD) activity in the rat brain. Ginseng extract G115 (400 mg/kg) given 14 days before and concurrently with rotenone significantly protected against rotenone-induced locomotor impairment at day 17, but not day 20. In addition, the treatment with
ginseng extract G115 (400 and 800 mg/kg) significantly prevented the loss of free radical scavenging and SOD activities in
rotenone-treated rats while inhibiting the lipid peroxidation. Together, the present study provides mechanistic insight into
rotenone-mediated PD as well as the information of ginseng extract that is promising for the prevention.