N-acetylcysteine decreases dopamine transporter availability in the non-lesioned striatum of the 6-OHDA hemiparkinsonian rat

Neurosci Lett. 2022 Jan 23:770:136420. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136420. Epub 2021 Dec 24.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the beneficial effects of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the degenerated dopamine system. The short- and long-term regulatory mechanisms of NAC on the 6-OHDA hemiparkinsonian rat model were longitudinally investigated by performing positron emission tomography (PET) imaging using the specific dopamine transporter (DAT) radioligand [18F]FE-PE2I. The results demonstrate that after a unilateral dopamine insult NAC has a strong influence on the non-lesioned hemisphere by decreasing the levels of DAT in the striatum early after the lesion. We interpret this early and short-term decrease of DAT in the healthy striatum of NAC-treated animals as a beneficial compensatory effect induced by NAC.

Keywords: 6-OHDA; N-acetylcysteine; Neuroimaging; PET; Parkinson’s disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcysteine / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology*
  • Corpus Striatum / drug effects
  • Corpus Striatum / metabolism*
  • Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Nortropanes / pharmacokinetics
  • Oxidopamine / toxicity
  • Parkinson Disease / diagnostic imaging
  • Parkinson Disease / etiology
  • Parkinson Disease / metabolism*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / pharmacokinetics
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Substances

  • (E)-N-(3-iodoprop-2-enyl)-2beta-carbofluoroethoxy-3beta-(4'-methyl-phenyl) nortropane
  • Antioxidants
  • Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Nortropanes
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Oxidopamine
  • Acetylcysteine