Nano-hesperetin ameliorates 6-hydroxydopamine-induced behavioral deficits and oxidative damage by up-regulating gene expression of antioxidant enzymes.

Objective: Hesperetin (Hst) has shown several pharmacological effects. The efficacy of Hst is highly restricted in vivo due mainly to poor bioavailability. This investigation was intended to compare the influence of Hst and nano-Hst treatment on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced behavioral deficits and oxidative stress in rats.

Materials and methods: Forty-two Wistar male rats were equally assigned to 6 groups: control, 6-OHDA, Hst5, Hst10, nano-Hst5, and nano-Hst10. Treatment with Hst and nano-Hst was initiated 1 day after the intrastriatal injection of 6-OHDA and continued for 28 days. Behavioral deficits were evaluated using apomorphine-induced rotation test (AIRT), narrow beam test (NBT) and novel object recognition test (NORT), and the hippocampus and striatum were used to evaluate oxidative stress-related parameters.

Results: The rats injected only with 6-OHDA showed learning and memory deficits but Hst and nano-Hst treatments improved it (p<0.001). Compared to the control group, a marked promotion in Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels along with a marked reduction in activities and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in the hippocampus and striatum were observed in the 6-OHDA group (p<0.01). However, administration of Hst and nano-Hst remarkably diminished MDA levels (p<0.01), and significantly increased the activities (p<0.01) and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes (p<0.05) and GSH levels (p<0.01) compared to the 6-OHDA group. In most parameters, nano-Hst has shown better therapeutic effects than Hst.

Conclusion: Our findings reveal that Hst can be considered as a potential candidate for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and that nano-Hst may have better bioavailability.