β-carotene Has the Neuroprotective Effects in Parkinson's Disease by Regulating Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway Genes

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases that cause disability. Finding treatment options that have no side effects can be very important.

Therefore, in this study, the effect of β-carotene administration was investigated in the PD model of rats.

Induction of Parkinson's disease in rats was done by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the substantia nigra (SN). After induction rat behaviour was studied using an apomorphine-induced rotation test. The SN cells' viability was evaluated by MTT assay and apoptosis and necrosis were measured by flow cytometry. The expressions of bax and bcl-2 genes were also studied using RT-PCR technique. Data analysis was done by GraphPad Prism V.8 software.

The results showed a positive effect of β-carotene administration in PD rats, which led to improvement in apomorphine-induced rotation test, increased viability, and decreased apoptosis and necrosis of SN neurons. It also downregulated bax and overexpressed bcl-2 gene expressions (P < 0.01).

β-carotene has therapeutic effects in PD conditions and its mechanism of action was attributed to regulating the expressions of genes involved in mitochondrial apoptosis. Therefore, its study in a clinical setting is recommended.