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Background: Ghrelin has been identified as a multifunctional peptide that has a potential applications for the treatment Parkinson’s disease (PD). Method: ELISA was used for detecting plasma total and active ghrelin levels, dopamine (DA) content was measured by HPLC-ECD, immunofluorescence staining and Western blot were used to detect protein expressions, and cytokine was tested by Bio-PlexPro™ assay.ResultsHere, we reported a subcutaneous administration of low-dose ghrelin via mini-osmotic pumps to PD mice. The decreased levels of total and active ghrelin in plasma were rescued by ghrelin administration. Interestingly, ghrelin had no effect on weight gain in wild-type mice but improved weight loss in PD mice. We observed the attenuation of dopaminergic (DAergic) neuron loss in substantia nigra (SN) and low level of dopamine content in the striatum in PD mice with ghrelin treatment. Ghrelin administration could improve the environment of DAergic neuron by inhibiting microglia proliferation and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, and could enhance cell survival by upregulating Bcl-2/Bax ratio and superoxide dismutase1 (SOD1) protein level in SN in PD mice.ConclusionsOur results suggested that subcutaneous administration of low-dose ghrelin could prevent the onset or the progression of PD, and also provided a possible method for ghrelin application to cure PD.
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