Dopaminergic Neuroprotection Induced by Long-Term Intake of Yerba Mate: Behavioral and Histological Evidence in Hemiparkinsonian Mice.

TARAVINI IRE.; GOMEZ G.; TRIBBIA LT.; CURA AC.; RIVERO RC.; BERNARDI MA.; FERRARIO JE.; BALDI CORONEL B.; GERSHANIK OS.; GATTO EM.

Miami

Congreso; 3rd Pan American Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders Congress; 2020

International Movement Disorder Society

Objective: We propose to characterize a yerba mate (YM) extractand evaluate if the consumption of YM provides a benefit at behaviorallevel and favors the survival of dopaminergic neurons inhemiparkinsonian mice.Background: The consumption of mate infusion (made from Ilexparaguariensis leaves) has been inversely associated with the developmentof Parkinson?s disease (PD) in a case-control study in Argentina and itwas shown to provide numerous health benefits.Methods: The YM extract was obtained by ?cebada simulada?. Theconcentration of its main bioactive compounds (caffeine, theobromine,chlorogenic acid and rutin) and their stability was determined byHPLC. Mice from experiment 1 received water (control) or YM(MATE) for 2 months before being lesioned by a 6-OHDA injection into the striatum. Animals from experiment 2 received water (control)or YM infusion diluted by one half in water (dilMATE) for 4 monthsbefore the injury. After lesion, mice continued 1 more month witheach treatment. During the treatment, locomotor activity was evaluatedin an open box, and after sacrifice, tyrosine hydroxylase(TH) immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the degree ofdopaminergic denervation.Results: Immunohistochemical evaluation of TH indicated that treatmentwith MATE for 2 months before the injection of 6-OHDA didnot have any effect on the percentage of remaining dopaminergic terminalsin the striatum. On the other hand, the area of remaining THimmunoreactiveterminals was 12.75 % higher in the group treated withdilMATE for 4 months prior to the lesion compared to the animalstreated with water. The behavioral evaluation showed no significant differencebetween the control and dilMATE groups, which may be due tothe scares number of animals.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the concentration of bioactivecompounds on the diluted YM could not be enough to induce hyperlocomotion.However, long term administration of this diluted extractwas enough to induce a moderate, but significant, neuroprotectionagainst 6-OHDA toxicity.