Excessive levels of nitric oxide in rat model of Parkinson’s disease induced by rotenone

Systemic rotenone models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are highly reproducible and may provide evidence on the pathogenesis of PD. In the present study, male Sprague-Dawley rats (1-year-old) were subcutaneously administered with rotenone (1.5 mg/kg/day) for six days and observed for the following three weeks. Compared with the control rats, a significant decrease was observed in the body weight and a marked increase was observed in the areas under the behavioral scoring curves in the rotenone-treated rats. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the abundance of nigral tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons was markedly reduced following rotenone treatment. ELISA and neurochemical assays demonstrated a significant increase in the levels of nitric oxide (NO) and NO synthase, whereas a marked decrease was observed in the thiol levels in the brains of the rotenone-treated rats. Thus, subacute rotenone treatment was found to induce behavioral deficits and the loss of nigral TH-positive neurons which may be associated with the excessive levels of NO in the rat brains.