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The Effects of Carvacrol on Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels in an Animal Model of Parkinson’s Disease

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Abstract

In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of carvacrol (CA), a widely used phytochemical having anti-oxidant and neuroprotective effects, on transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). A total of 64 adult male Spraque-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: sham-operated, PD animal model (unilateral intrastriatal injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), 6 µg/µl), PD + vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)) treatment, and PD + CA treatment (10 mg/kg, every other day, for 14 days). Half of the brain samples of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and striatum (CPu) were collected for immunohistochemistry and the remaining half were used for molecular analyses. CA treatment significantly increased the density of dopaminergic neurons immunolabeled with tyrosine hydroxylase and transient receptor potential canonical 1 (TRPC1) channel in the SNpc of PD animals. In contrast, the density of astrocytes immunolabeled with glial fibrillary acetic acid and transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel significantly decreased following CA treatment in the CPu of PD animals. RT-PCR and western blot analyses showed that 6-OHDA administration significantly reduced TRPA1 and TPRPC1 mRNA expression and protein levels in both SNpc and CPu. CA treatment significantly upregulated TRPA1 expression in PD group, while TRPC1 levels did not display an alteration. Based on this data it was concluded that CA treatment might protect the number of dopaminergic neurons by reducing the reactive astrogliosis and modulating the expression of TRP channels in both neurons and astrocytes in an animal model of PD.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all my professors who have helped me throughout my research and writing this article. In addition, all authors thanked ESOGU Faculty of Medicine retired Lecturer Prof. Dr. A. Neşe Tuncel.

Funding

This work has been supported by Eskisehir Osmangazi University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under grant number # 201711A243.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Zafer Sağlık Külliyesi B Blok, Dörtyol Mah, 2078 Sk, No. 3, 03030, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

    Tülay Akan

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Yasemin Aydın & Orhan Tansel Korkmaz

  3. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Emel Ulupınar

  4. Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    Faruk Saydam

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  1. Tülay Akan
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  3. Orhan Tansel Korkmaz
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Tülay Akan], [Orhan Tansel Korkmaz] and [Faruk Saydam]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Tülay Akan], [Yasemin Aydın] and [Emel Ulupınar]. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tülay Akan.

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Ethical Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All procedures were performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Experiments Center Ethics Committee (CECAE) in Turkey and approved by the Eskişehir Osmangazi University Animal Experiments Local Ethics Committee (HADYEK protocol number: 2016/525).

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Akan, T., Aydın, Y., Korkmaz, O.T. et al. The Effects of Carvacrol on Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels in an Animal Model of Parkinson’s Disease. Neurotox Res 41, 660–669 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-023-00660-5

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