Trace Elements in Medicine (Moscow) 2016, 17(3): 25-29
ORIGINAL PAPER

EFFECT OF LITHIUM SALT OF TAURINE AT EXPERIMENTAL PARKINSON'S DISEASЕ

L.M. Hovsepyan, G.S. Kazaryan, H.V. Zanginyan, G.V. Zakaryan, R.M. Grigoryan, N.K Sarkisyan

Institute of Molecular Biology, Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Hasratyan str. 7, Yerevan, 0014, Armenia

DOI: 10.19112/2413-6174-2016-17-3-25-29 

ABSTRACT. The aim of this work was to study the effect of a newly synthesized drug, the lithium salt of taurine, at experimental Parkinson's disease. Drug cytotoxicity (in vitro) was investigated; experimental Parkinson's disease (in vivo) was simulated by administration of MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrapiridin) at a dose of 25 mg/kg. The results showed that the lithium salt of taurine was not cytotoxic towards KCL-22 cells (human chronic myeloid leukemia). The level of cell viability began to decrease significantly starting at the concentration of 10 mg/ml, but even at the maximum investigated concentration (1000 mg/ml), the cell viability was 75%. In experiments on animals with experimental Parkinson's disease the oxidation processes were investigated. There was observed an increase of the reactions of free radical lipid oxidation (hydroperoxide, malondialdehyde) as well as the accumulation of the products of protein oxidative modification in rat brain when modeling Parkinson's disease. When administering the study drug to the experimental animals at 50 mg/kg, a normalizing effect was found manifested by a decrease in the content of lipid peroxides and oxidative modification of proteins in rat brain. The protective effect of the drug was suggested to be due to the presence of taurine in the drug structure, which is involved in metabolism of glutathione. The obtained data were interpreted with regard to the antioxidant properties of the drug.

KEYWORDS: lipid peroxidation, protein oxidative modification, taurine, lithium.