Alpha-Tocopherol Counteracts Cognitive and Motor Deficits Induced by Repeated Treatment with Reserpine

Aldair José Sarmento

Abstract

Previous studies showed that chronic administration of the monoamine depleting agent reserpine in low doses promotes progressive cognitive and motor impairments in rats, and this protocol has been used as a pharmacological progressive model of Parkinson's disease. These behavioral alterations are accompanied by increased brain oxidative stress. We aimed to verify the effects of the concomitant treatment with the antioxidant agent alpha-tocopherol on the motor and cognitive deficits induced by chronic reserpine in rats. Rats were repeatedly treated with 0.1 mg/kg reserpine with or without a concomitant treatment with 40 mg/kg alpha-tocopherol. Across the treatment, motor and cognitive performances were evaluated by the catalepsy and novel object recognition tests, respectively. As expected, reserpinetreated rats showed progressively increased duration of catalepsy together with short-term memory deficits in the object recognition test. Importantly, these detrimental outcomes due to reserpine treatment were prevented by concomitant daily administration of the antioxidant agent alpha-tocopherol. The results show a preventive role of alpha-tocopherol on behavioral alterations induced by repeated reserpine treatment. This is relevant to the investigation of possible neuroprotective interventions in Parkinson’s disease.