Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238 DOI 10.1007/s11064-009-0046-1
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Effects of Polyphenols on Survival and Locomotor Activity in Drosophila melanogaster Exposed to Iron and Paraquat M. Jimenez-Del-Rio Æ C. Guzman-Martinez Æ C. Velez-Pardo
Accepted: 8 August 2009 / Published online: 23 August 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common progressive neurodegenerative disorder, for which at present no causal treatment is available. On the understanding that the causes of PD are mainly oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, antioxidants and other drugs are expected to be used. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that pure polyphenols such as gallic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, propyl gallate, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, and epigallocatechin gallate protect, rescue and, most importantly, restore the impaired movement activity (i.e., climbing capability) induced by paraquat in Drosophila melanogaster, a valid model of PD. We also showed for the first time that high concentrations of iron (e.g. 15 mM FeSO4) are able to diminish fly survival and movement to a similar extent as (20 mM) paraquat treatment. Moreover, paraquat and iron synergistically affect both survival and locomotor function. Remarkably, propyl gallate and epigallocatechin gallate protected and maintained movement abilities in flies co-treated with paraquat and iron. Our findings indicate that pure polyphenols might be potent neuroprotective agents for the treatment of PD against stressful stimuli. Keywords Drosophila Iron Locomotor Parkinson Paraquat Polyphenol Survival Toxicity
M. Jimenez-Del-Rio (&) C. Guzman-Martinez C. Velez-Pardo School of Medicine, Medical Research Institute, Neuroscience Research Group, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Calle 62 # 52-59, Building 1, Room 412, Medellin, Colombia e-mail:
[email protected] M. Jimenez-Del-Rio C. Guzman-Martinez C. Velez-Pardo SIU, Medellin, Colombia
Introduction Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra zona compacta, the decrease of the neurotransmitter dopamine content in striatum [1] and elevated levels and/or deposits of iron (for a review see Ref. [2]). PD is clinically characterized by bradykinesia, rigidity, resting tremor, and postural instability, for which at present no causal treatment is available. The therapy consists only of amelioration of the symptoms by replacement of deficient dopamine (e.g. StalevoÒ). Therefore, other approaches are critically needed for PD patients. A therapy to rescue or protect degenerating dopamine neurons has been proposed, the strategies of which should be based on the insight of the aetiology and pathogenesis of PD. On the understanding that the causes of PD are mainly oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction [3, 4], antioxidants, free radical scavengers, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, iron-chelators, and other such drugs are expected to be used. Substantial evidence suggests environmental risk factors such as pesticides and heavy metals as causative of PD [5, 6]. Exposure of humans to environmental toxins such as MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) and paraquat (PQ, 1,10 -dimethyl-40 ,40 -bipyridilium dimethylsulphate) induce acute and irreversible parkinsonism [7–9]. Indeed, PQ2?, a nonselective herbicide, is currently used to model PD [10] because of its similarity to the chemical structure of the active metabolite of the parkinsonism-induced agent MPTP, the 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridium ion (MPP?). Recently, it has been shown that paraquat is taken up across the mitochondrial inner membrane by a carrier-mediated and membrane potential
123
228
(DWm)-dependent process and that, once in the matrix, PQ2? is reduced to paraquat monocation radical (PQ?) by complex I in mammalian mitochondria [11]. The PQ? radical then rapidly reacts with oxygen (k = 7.7 9 108 M-1 s-1) to generate the superoxide anion radical (O2 ). This then sets off the well-known enzymatic or non-enzymatic dismutation of O2 into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which in the presence of ferrous iron (Fe2?) is capable of forming the highly reactive and harmful hydroxyl radical (OH). Therefore, the mechanism of paraquat neurotoxicity is most likely mediated via oxidative stress [12]. Interestingly, paraquat has been shown to specifically damage dopaminergic neuronal cells in in vivo studies with Drosophila melanogaster [13], rats [14] and mice [15, 16]. These data clearly demonstrated that dopaminergic neurons are responsible for the movement function in flies and mammals and that either genetically or environmentally induced damage of those neurons resulted in motor dysfunction. The use of Drosophila as a model of PD is advantageous over other models for several reasons. First, except for cells in the gonads and some cells in the gut, there is no cell mitosis in the adult fly. Thus, the adult fly might be considered as an organism of synchronously ageing cells. This characteristic warrants precise timing at which the putative antioxidant molecule impacts survival rate and/or locomotor activity in flies. Second, Drosophila represents an unprecedented model organism not only for understanding fundamental neuropharmacological processes, but also for comparative experimental research. Indeed, the similarity between the dopaminergic network, mode of drug action, behaviour, and gene response in D. melanogaster and mammalian systems, has made the fly a very attractive model for anti-parkinsonism drug discovery [17]. Third, Drosophila offers the power of rapid drug screening analysis, which is not yet possible in mammalian models [18]. And finally, given the high degree of evolutionary conservation of the human and fly genes involved in movement disorders, Drosophila is an ideal system for evaluating molecules with the potential of ameliorating motor coordination [19]. Amazingly, Parkinson’s-like motor dysfunction has been mimicked in Drosophila either by specific genetic alterations [20–23]; pharmacological inhibition [21, 24]; or by administration of xenobiotic compounds such as rotenone [25] and paraquat [13]. The study of antioxidants is becoming one of the most important subjects in PD research. Polyphenols are a group of chemical substances present in plants, fruits, and vegetables, characterized by the presence of one or more than one phenol unit per molecule with several hydroxyl groups on aromatic rings. Based on this structural feature, polyphenols are classified as phenolic acids (e.g., gallic (GA),
123
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
caffeic (CA), coumaric (CouA), ferulic acid (FA), propyl gallate (PG), flavonoids, -the largest group of polyphenols-, and non-flavonoid polyphenols. Flavonoids involve anthocyanins and anthoxantins. The latter group is divided into flavonols, flavans, flavanols (e.g., epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)), flavones and isoflavones [26]. Numerous studies in the past decade have shown that polyphenols have in vitro and in vivo activity in preventing or reducing the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) associated with oxidative stress and neurodegeneration not only because of their strong antioxidant and metal-chelating properties [27– 29], but also because of their capability to induce intracellular signalling pathways associated with cell survival and gene expression [30, 31]. However, pro-oxidant and cell death effects of polyphenols have also been reported [32– 34]. Thus, the question whether polyphenols are multifunctional molecules (i.e., anti-oxidants, pro-oxidants, gene regulators, metal-binding molecules) in vivo in humans is still unresolved. Several groups have studied flavonoid-rich foods rather than pure flavonoid compounds. Therefore, little or no clear evidence of antioxidant and chelating effects have been demonstrated in in vivo studies. Moreover, no data are available on whether polyphenol consumption may improve movement alteration in PD. To establish conclusive evidence for the effectiveness of polyphenols in PD, it is essential to determine the nature of these compounds and which of the hundreds of existing polyphenols are likely to provide the greatest effect. Given that the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster has been proven to be a suitable model for analyzing the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in a PQ-induced Parkinsonism model [13, 19], and because several of the phenolic acids and polyphenols are natural constituents in food such as fruits, green/black tea and white/red wine [35, 36], the aims of the present study were (1) to assess the effect of phenolic acids (i.e., GA, FA, CA, CouA, PG) and flavanols (i.e. EC, EGC, EGCG) compounds (Fig. 1a) on the survival and locomotor function (climbing capability) of Canton-S Drosophila melanogaster against paraquat-toxicity, (2) to investigate whether those compounds were able to rescue Drosophila pre-exposed to PQ. Unquestionably, iron plays a major role in the pathogenesis of PD [37]. However, it is yet unknown whether iron may be a causative or secondary factor in the disease process. We therefore investigated (3) whether iron per se was able to induce a parkinsonism-like effect on Drosophila and (4) whether phenolic acids and flavanols were able to protect these flies against iron and PQ. Understanding the mechanism of polyphenols against PQinduced toxicity in the Drosophila model may provide insights into more effective antioxidant therapeutic approaches to PD.
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
229
Fig. 1 a Chemical structure of polyphenols (phenolic acids and flavanols), paraquat (inside box) and StalevoÒ (outside box) compounds used in this research (and their abbreviations). b–d Schematic
representation of feeding schedule, paraquat, iron and polyphenol treatments in Drosophila melanogaster. For further explanation, see ‘‘Experimental Procedure’’ section
Experimental Procedure
placed in ten vials containing a filter paper (Bio Rad Mini Trans-Blot 1703932) and were pre-fed with 200 ll 55.5 mM (1%) glucose (GLU) solution alone for 72 h. After this time, flies were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C and transferred to vials with a filter paper saturated with 20 mM paraquat (PQ). Red food dye (8 ll/1 ml) (Red food colour McCormick) was added to ensure homogeneity and food intake. Living flies were counted at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h (Fig. 1B0 ). For the iron toxicity assay, 50 separated adult female flies were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C. Then, groups of five flies were placed in ten vials containing a filter paper and were pre-fed with 200 ll (1%) glucose (GLU) solution in combination with (0, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 mM) iron sulphate (FeSO4) for 120 h (Fig. 1B00 ). Filters were changed daily. Both toxicity assays were carried out by triplicate.
Fly Stock and Culture Wild type Canton-S Drosophila melanogaster were maintained at 25°C on 12 h light/dark cycle in bottles containing agar, corn meal, molasses, water, and dried yeast medium. Propionic acid was added to prevent fungal growth (Merck—Schuchardt OHG D-85662 Hohenbrunm Germany) and other reagents, unless specified otherwise, were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). Female (F) flies were collected under brief CO2 anesthesia from 2 to 3 days after eclosion. Paraquat and Iron Toxicity Assay The paraquat toxicity assay was performed on 2- to 3- day-old flies collected overnight and kept on regular food medium. Subsequently, 50 separated adult female flies were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C. Then, groups of five flies were
Antioxidant Assay The antioxidant assay was performed on 2- to 3- day-old female flies collected overnight and kept on regular food
123
230
medium. Subsequently, 50 females were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C. Then, groups of five F were placed in ten vials containing a filter paper (Bio Rad Mini Trans-Blot 1703932) saturated with 200 ll fresh polyphenol solution (gallic acid (GA), ferulic acid (FA), caffeic acid (CA), Coumaric acid (CouA), propyl gallate (PG), epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)) at (0.1–1 mM) and 1% GLU in distilled water (dW) for 72 h. Filters were changed daily. Then, flies were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C, and they were placed in the vials with a filter paper saturated with either 20 mM PQ (Fig. 1C0 ), 15 mM Fe alone (Fig. 1C00 ), or in combination with 1 mM PQ and 15 mM Fe (Fig. 1C000 ) in 1% GLU solution for different intervals of time. Red food dye (8 ll/1 ml) (Red food colour McCormick) was added to ensure homogeneity and food intake. Survival rate (%) and locomotion assay were rated at each interval of time. A total number of 150 flies were used for each substance. Rescue Assay The rescue assay was performed on 2- to 3-d-old flies collected overnight and kept on regular food medium. Groups of five F flies were placed in plastic vials containing a filter paper saturated with 1% GLU in dW for 72 h. Filters were changed daily. Then, flies were starved in empty vials for 3 h at 25°C, and transferred to vials containing a filter paper saturated with 20 mM PQ and 1% GLU in dW for 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively at 25°C. Then, 50 female flies from each interval of time were placed in groups of five in ten plastic vials with a filter paper saturated with 0.1–0.5 mM polyphenols with 1% GLU in dW for an additional 24 h, i.e. survival rate (%) and locomotion assay were recorded at 30, 36, and 48 h (Fig. 1d). The rescue assay was carried out by triplicate. Locomotion Assay The movement deficits assay was performed on treated flies according to ref. [13] with minor modifications. Briefly, treated female flies were placed in empty plastic vials. After a 10 min rest period, the flies were tapped to the bottom of the vials, and the number of flies able to climb 5 cm in 6 s was recorded at each interval of time. The assays were repeated three times at 1 min intervals. The scores are the mean of the numbers of flies at the top (ntop) and at the bottom (nbot), expressed as percentages of the total number of flies (ntot). Results are presented as the mean ± SD of the scores obtained in three independent experiments. For each experiment, a performance index (PI) was calculated, defined as 1/2[(ntot ? ntop - nbot)/ntot] [25]. Statistical analysis was performed on the PIs with the Student’s t test. StalevoÒ (carbidopa, levodopa and
123
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
entacapone), a drug amply medicated for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, was used as a positive restorative drug against PQ toxicity. Statistical Analysis Data were shown as a mean ± standard deviation of the mean (SD) for three independent experiments. The Chi Square statistic was performed to compare proportion of percentage between independent groups. Differences were considered statistically significant at P \ 0.05.
Results Polyphenols Protected and Maintained the Locomotion Function of Drosophila melanogaster Exposed to Paraquat Previously, we have shown that 20 mM paraquat significantly reduces survival and diminishes locomotor activity in Drosophila melanogaster [19]. To evaluate whether polyphenols (Fig. 1a) were able to protect and to maintain the locomotion function of D. melanogaster against paraquat, flies were pre-fed with different concentrations of polyphenols for 72 h, and then fed with 20 mM PQ for 24 and 48 h. Taken as a whole, phenolic acids and flavanols were able to protect D. melanogaster against paraquat at the concentrations tested and time of exposure (Fig. 2a–c). Interestingly, low concentrations (0.1 mM, Fig. 2a) of polyphenols, (except CA (1 mM)), were more effective than medium (0.5 mM, Fig. 2b) or high (1 mM, Fig. 2c) concentrations to protect the specimens from PQ noxious effects at 24 h. Likewise, except for GA and CouA, polyphenols such as PG (0.1 mM), FA (0.5 mM), CA (0.5 mM) and catechins (EC, 0.5 mM; EGC, 0.1 mM; EGCG, 0.1 mM) protected against PQ exposure at 48 h. It is worth mentioning that flies pre-fed with different concentrations of polyphenols for 72 h, and then fed with 1% GLU for 24 and 48 h (controls) showed survival rate and climbing percentage values similar to flies fed with just 1% GLU for 120 h. Remarkably, 0.5 mg/ml StalevoÒ (equivalent to 0.76 mM levodopa, 0.17 mM cardidopa and 1 mM entacapone), a drug used in the treatment of PD, offered D. melanogaster 100 and 26% survival rate when exposed to PQ for 24 and 48 h, respectively. Nevertheless, 0.1 and 1 mg/ml StalevoÒ significantly increased the flies’ survival percentage compared to flies treated with PQ alone for the same time points. We then evaluated whether polyphenols were able to maintain locomotor functionality in D. melanogaster exposed to PQ. Therefore, flies were pre-fed with the polyphenol concentration at which the maximal survival percentage was observed. i.e., 0.1 mM GA, FA, CouA, PG,
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
231
Fig. 2 Protective effect of polyphenols in D. melanogaster exposed to paraquat. Female flies were pre-fed with either 1% glucose alone, 0.1 mM (a), 0.5 mM (b), or 1 mM (c) gallic acid (GA), ferulic acid (FA), caffeic acid (CA), coumaric acid (CouA), propyl gallate (PG), epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) polyphenols and 0.1–1 mg/ml StalevoÒ with 1% glucose in
distilled water (dW) for 72 h. Then, flies were left untreated (U) or treated with 20 mM paraquat (PQ) for 24 and 48 h. For locomotion assay, 0.1 mM polyphenol concentration was used. a–c Survival rate (%) and d locomotion assay were recorded at indicated time. Polyphenols were statistically significant (** P \ 0.001) vs. PQ at 24 h. * P \ 0.05, ** P \ 0.001 polyphenols vs. PQ at 48 h
EC EGC, EGCG; 0.5 mM CA, and as a positive control, 0.5 mg/ml StalevoÒ for 72 h. After this time, flies were treated with PQ and locomotor assessment was performed at different time points. As shown in Fig. 2d, the flies’ locomotor activity (%) is significantly reduced by 13, 56, 77, and 88% at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h, respectively under PQ only (negative control), whereas those treated with the polyphenols were able to maintain their climbing ability. The restorative effect of all polyphenols began to be effective after 6 h post-PQ exposure. In fact, negative geotaxis movement increased by 46–97% at 12 h, 143–334% at 24 h, 333–600% at 48 h, respectively post-PQ treatment. Strikingly, StalevoÒ showed climbing capability results comparable to polyphenols at the different time point evaluations.
movement impairment, the flies were pre-fed with 1% GLU for 72 h, then exposed to PQ for 6, 12, and 24 h. At each period of time, flies were fed with 1% GLU (control) or polyphenols for an additional 24 h (Fig. 1d). As illustrated in Fig. 3a, polyphenols were effective rescuing D. melanogaster with variable efficiencies. While CouA, PG, EC, and EGCG significantly rescued D. melanogaster from the toxic effect of PQ, FA showed no effect, but GA and CA were effective at 48 h post-PQ treatment. Noticeably, polyphenols were able to maintain and restore the flies’ movement abilities (Fig. 3b). StalevoÒ showed comparable results to polyphenols at different time points.
Polyphenols Rescued and Restored Locomotive Function in D. melanogaster Flies from Paraquat Intoxication To evaluate whether polyphenols were able to rescue D. melanogaster against PQ-induced toxicity and
Polyphenols Protected and Restored Locomotive Function in D. melanogaster Flies from Iron and Paraquat Exposure It is well known that iron plays an important role in the pathophysiology of PD [2]. To evaluate whether iron was toxic or whether it affected movement in D. melanogaster, they were fed with increasing concentrations of iron sulphate (0.5–20 mM, FeSO4) for up to 120 h (Fig. 1b). As
123
232
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
Fig. 3 Rescue effect of polyphenols in D. melanogaster exposed to paraquat. Female flies were pre-fed with 1% GLU solution for 72 h. After this time, a group of flies were exposed to either 1% GLU alone (GLU) or 20 mM PQ and 1% GLU in dW for 6, 12, and 24 h (control group). After each time interval, a group of flies were fed with 1% GLU solution (U), or with 0.1 mM gallic acid (GA), ferulic acid (FA), coumaric acid (CouA), propyl gallate (PG), epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), 0.5 mM caffeic acid (CA) polyphenols and 0.5 mg/ ml StalevoÒ for an additional 24 h. a Survival rate (%) and b locomotion assay were recorded at the indicated time. * P \ 0.05 polyphenols vs. PQ, ** P \ 0.001 polyphenols vs. PQ
shown in Fig. 4, iron induced a significant reduction in survival and locomotor function in a concentration and time dependent fashion. In fact, while 5 mM iron diminished survival by 40% at 96 h and reduced locomotor abilities by 50% at 120 h (Fig. 4b), higher concentrations of iron were moderately toxic (10–15 mM) or completely lethal (20 mM) to Drosophila (Fig. 4a). Given that 15 mM Fe reduces the flies’ survival by 60–90% and impairs movement (i.e., climbing abilities) by 50–90% at 72 and 96 h, respectively, this concentration was chosen for further experiments. Moreover, this concentration induced a comparable effect on survival and climbing alterations as did 20 mM PQ at 48 h. To further determine whether polyphenols were able to protect D. melanogaster against the harmful effects of iron, we fed flies with phenolic acid (e.g. GA, PG) and flavanols (e.g., EC, EGC, EGCG) with 15 mM iron for 120 h (Fig. 1C00 ). As shown in Fig. 5a, GA and PG were more
123
efficient protecting flies by 100% and 450% survival at 72 and 96 h, respectively than flavanols. Similarly, GA and PG maintained movement capabilities higher than EC, EGC, EGCG at 48 and 72 h, respectively (Fig. 5b). Noticeably, although polyphenols were able to prolong survival for up to 120 h, they were unable to restore movement at this period of time. To evaluate whether polyphenols may protect Drosophila against iron and PQ harmful effects, we pre-fed flies with PG and EGCG for 72 h, then flies were fed with 1 mM PQ, 15 mM FeSO4 or with PQ and FeSO4 for additional 72 h (Fig. 1C000 ). Interestingly, both PG and EGCG polyphenols increased Drosophila’s survival and climbing abilities when treated with iron or PQ alone, or iron in combination with paraquat up to 120 h (Figs. 6a, b and 7a, b). As expected, PQ and iron caused 100% death in Drosophila by the second day of treatment (data not shown).
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
233
Fig. 4 Effect of iron in D. melanogaster. Female flies were pre-fed with either 1% glucose alone, or with 0.1–20 mM iron with 1% glucose in distilled water (dW) for 120 h. a Survival rate (%) and b locomotion assay were recorded at the indicated time
Discussion It is known that the mechanism of paraquat toxicity in dopaminergic neurons is most likely mediated via oxidative stress [12]. Indeed, paraquat (PQ2?) generates superoxide radicals (O2 ) by undergoing a NADH-dependent reduction to form a stable paraquat monocation (PQ?) radical that reacts very rapidly (k2 = 7.7 9 108 M s-1) with O2 to generate PQ2? and O2 radicals [38], which in turn produces H2O2 by either enzymatic or non-enzymatic dismutation reaction. Therefore, any molecule or compound capable of blocking either O2 radicals or H2O2 generation might have potential antioxidant capacities [39]. In this regard, polyphenols are the most abundant antioxidants in our diet [36]. To establish conclusive evidence for the effectiveness of polyphenols in neurodegenerative
disorders, it is therefore crucial to determine which of the hundreds of existing polyphenols are likely to provide the greatest effect. Since phenolic acids and flavanols present in fruits, white/red wine and green/black tea [36] are the most extensively studied in in vivo and in vitro assays and are currently considered to be of great nutritional interest, we have selected some of the most representative polyphenols (Fig. 1a) for our experimental settings. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that pure polyphenols such as GA, FA, CA, CouA, PG, EC, EGC and EGCG protect, rescue and most importantly, restore the impaired movement activity (i.e. climbing capability) induced by PQ in Drosophila melanogaster, a valid model of PD [19]. We also showed for the first time that high concentrations of iron (sulphate) are able to diminish fly survival and movement to a similar extent as
123
234
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
Fig. 5 Protective effect of polyphenols in D. melanogaster exposed to iron. Female flies were fed with either 1% glucose alone, 0.1 mM gallic acid (GA), propyl gallate (PG), epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) polyphenols or
15 mM iron. a Survival rate (%) and b locomotion assay were recorded at the indicated time. * P \ 0.05 vs. control (iron alone), ** P \ 0.001 vs. control (iron alone)
PQ treatment. Moreover, PQ and iron synergistically affect both survival and locomotor function. Remarkably, PG and EGCG polyphenols protected and maintained movement abilities in flies co-treated with PQ/iron. Specifically, we found that 0.1–1 mM polyphenols protect and rescue Drosophila against 20 mM PQ. A study similar to ours has been performed by Kim and colleagues [40], but with important differences in study design and findings. In that study, wild type isogenic Drosophila Canton S flies (100–150/bottle) were pre-fed with (?)-catechin and (-)epicatechin (50 mg/ml equivalent to 167 lM) for 24 h, and transferred to bottles containing both paraquat (5 mM) and the antioxidant. The survival percentage was checked after 48 and 96 h. They found no preventive effect against PQ
toxicity. The authors offered no explanation for these findings. Based on our survival test results, a more likely explanation for their failure to find a protective effect of an antioxidant effect is because the duration of antioxidant feeding was too short and the antioxidant concentration was too low in their study to observe the full enhancing effect of polyphenols on survival rate. It should be noted that implicit in the design of our study is the assumption that polyphenols are antioxidants, however, in vitro literature suggest that they may be pro-oxidant at certain concentrations [32–34], but our data, and those of others, suggest that over a very wide dose range this is not the case in vivo [41, 42]. Although we do not disregard that polyphenol supplementation, especially catechin derivatives
123
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
235
Fig. 6 Protective effect of propyl gallate in D. melanogaster exposed to iron and paraquat. Female flies were pre-fed with 0.1 mM PG and 1% GLU solution for 72 h. After this time, a group of flies were exposed to either 1% GLU alone (GLU), 15 mM iron, 1 mM PQ, or 15 mM iron/ 1 mM PQ and 1% GLU in dW for an additional 72 h. a Survival rate (%) and b locomotion assay were recorded at the indicated time with respect to iron (control). * P \ 0.05, ** P \ 0.001
EC, ECG, EGCG could increase survival time of D. melanogaster under PQ by other non-antioxidant mechanisms e.g., by up-regulating the enzymatic activity of CuZnSOD, MnSOD and catalase with reduction of lipid peroxidation [41], our data suggest that the antioxidant activity of polyphenols (i.e., phenolic acids and flavanols) can be attributed to its unique phenolic structure, which can donate an electron or proton to a free radical. In support of this view, it has been demonstrated that GA, CA, FA, EC, EGC, EGCG [43] are able to reduce the free radical DPPH according to a DPPH reduction test. Furthermore, phenolic acids have been shown to scavenge H2O2 [44]. In accordance with these data, we have recently found that PG, EC and EGCG effectively attenuate mitochondrial damage against PQ-induced oxidative stress by scavenging O2 radical and H2O2 thereby maintaining mitochondrial functionality by keeping high DWm (M. Jimenez-Del-Rio,
C. Velez-Pardo, J. Bustamante, S. Lores-Arnaiz, Unpublished observations). Taken together our data comply with the notion that the antioxidant capacity of polyphenols against paraquat is dependent on ROS scavenger activity and mitochondrial protection. The most interesting finding in the present study was that phenolic acids and flavanol supplementation was also associated with a significant recovery of Drosophila’s locomotion activity impaired by PQ. Although, times of effectiveness of (0.1 mM) polyphenols differ from one to another, the sequence of their efficacy against PQ treatment was characterized as follows (for comparative purpose, StalevoÒ was included): FA=EGCG[ EGC[ PG=CouA= EC= StalevoÒ[ GA= CA at 12 h; GA[ CA[ EGCG= EC[EGC= StalevoÒ[ PG[ FA= CouA at 24 h; and CouA[ PG= FA=EGCG[CA= GA= EGC= StalevoÒ[ EC at 48 h. These data show that polyphenols positively affect
123
236
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
Fig. 7 Protective effect of epigallocatechin gallate in D. melanogaster exposed to iron and paraquat. Female flies were pre-fed with 0.1 mM EGCG and 1% GLU solution for 72 h. After this time, a group of flies were exposed to either 1% GLU alone (GLU), 15 mM iron, 1 mM PQ, or 15 mM iron/ 1 mM PQ and 1% GLU in dW for an additional 72 h. a Survival rate (%) and b locomotion assay were recorded at the indicated time with respect to iron (control). * P \ 0.05, ** P \ 0.001
flies’ movement, thus the restorative negative geotaxis movement increased overall by 46–97% at 12 h, 143–334% at 24 h, 333–600% at 48 h, post-PQ treatment. Taken together these data suggest that polyphenols are efficient compounds bringing-back Drosophila melanogaster to normal movement functionality. Noticeably, polyphenols were even more effective than StalevoÒ, a currently used medicine to treat patients with PD. Indeed, StalevoÒ contains three active substances involved in the metabolism of dopamine: levodopa, which acts as a dopamine precursor; carbidopa, which is dopa decarboxylase inhibitor and entacapone, which is a catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitor (Fig. 1a). Interestingly, these components are structurally similar to polyphenols. Although dopa decarboxylase and methyl transferase enzymes are expressed in D. melanogaster [45], we do not discard the possibility that the protective, rescue and locomotor activity of StalevoÒ was associated, at least in part, to antioxidant activity of its components. However, the lack of polyphenols and StalevoÒ bioavailability data in D. melanogaster discouraged
123
us from concluding that a similar effect of movement amelioration in PD patients might be observed with polyphenol intake. Unfortunately, at present no data is available on studies within the effects of pure polyphenols in PD patients with emphasis in locomotor assessment. Further studies are needed to clarify this issue. Recently, it has been shown that binding of the polyphenol to iron is essential for antioxidant activity [46]. On the other hand, increasing amounts of data suggest that iron might be involved in the pathogenesis of PD [37]. Indeed, this metal has been found to accumulate in individual substancia nigra dopaminergic neurons from unfixed frozen post-mortem tissue of PD patients [47] and in substancia nigra from PD patients [48]. However, it is yet unknown whether iron may be a causative or secondary factor in the disease process. Therefore, we initially investigated whether iron per se was able to induce parkinsonism-like effect on Drosophila. In the present investigation, we have shown for the first time that feeding Drosophila with moderately high concentrations of iron (5–15 mM) for up to 120 h
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238
effectively affects flies’ negative geotaxis movements, albeit with a relative decrease on survival rate. This result suggests that iron, at least under experimental conditions, might be able to target dopaminergic neurons in the fly. Several observations support this view. First, proteins involved in iron uptake, transport and storage in D. melanogaster are highly homologous to those proteins involved in the metabolism of iron in humans [49]. Second, dopaminergic neurons in D. melanogaster are vulnerable in a similar manner as the human dopaminergic neurons to oxidative stress and cell death induced by xenobiotic compound exposure in in vivo models such as paraquat [13], rotenone [25] and iron [50–52]. One possible explanation for this sensitivity could be related to the fact that iron accelerates dopamine oxidation, thereby producing reactive oxygen species such as H2O2 which in turn react with Fe2? ions generating hydroxyl radicals (OH), a more reactive molecule towards proteins, RNA and DNA [53]. However, further studies are needed to specifically evidence deposition of iron and damage of the dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila. Taken together our data suggest that iron could be a potential environmental causative factor of sporadic PD. Another goal of our investigation was to establish whether polyphenols were able to protect flies against iron and PQ. As expected, co-supplementation of (1 mM) paraquat and (15 mM) iron was extremely toxic to D. melanogaster [40]. However, the phenolic acid PG and flavanols EGCG efficiently protected Drosophila exposed either to iron alone or in combination with iron and paraquat. Similar survival rates were observed with GA and EGC (data not shown). These data comply with the notion that iron exacerbates paraquat-induced toxicity in in vivo [54], but the capability of polyphenols to form iron-complexes and to scavenge free radicals might protect dopaminergic neurons from PQ-induced O2 and H2O2 harmful effects (e.g., Fenton reaction). Consequently, dopaminergic neurons might conserve their functionality. Indeed, in the present investigation we report for the first time that polyphenols were able to maintain locomotor function in D. melanogaster supplemented with paraquat, iron or a combination of iron and paraquat. These findings suggest that pre-treatment with polyphenols might be helpful in reducing iron and paraquat-induced toxicity and movement impairment in adult Drosophila. Despite the fact that the multifunctional activities of polyphenols (i.e., antioxidants, pro-oxidants, gene regulators, metal-binding molecules) have not yet been clearly established to occur in vivo in humans, and bioavailability data of polyphenols in vivo in PD patients is needed, the results of this study should provide a framework for future studies to assess potential antioxidant capacity of new polyphenols and/or polyphenol-related structural molecules
237
to suppress oxidative stress and to restore and/or maintain locomotor activity in PD patients. Acknowledgments This work was supported by Colciencias grants #1115-408-20504, and CODI-U.deA. grants #2408 awarded to C.V.-P. and M.J.-Del-Rio.
References 1. Forno LS (1996) Neuropathology of Parkinson’s disease. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 55:259–272 2. Berg D (2007) Disturbance of iron metabolism as a contributing factor to SN hyperechogenicity in Parkinson’s disease: implications for idiopathic and monogenetic forms. Neurochem Res 32:1646–1654 3. Henchcliffe C, Beal MF (2008) Mitochondrial biology and oxidative stress in Parkinson disease pathogenesis. Nat Clin Pract Neurol 4:600–609 4. Zhou C, Huang Y, Przedborski S (2008) Oxidative stress in Parkinson’s disease: a mechanism of pathogenic and therapeutic significance. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1147:93–104 5. Dick FD, De Palma G, Ahmadi A, Scott NW, Prescott GJ, Bennett J, Semple S, Dick S, Counsell C, Mozzoni P, Haites N, Wettinger SB, Mutti A, Otelea M, Seaton A, So¨derkvist P, Felice A, Geoparkinson study group (2007) Environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism: the Geoparkinson study. Occup Environ Med 64:666–672 6. Jones DC, Miller GW (2008) The effects of environmental neurotoxicants on the dopaminergic system: a possible role in drug addiction. Biochem Pharmacol 76:569–581 7. Ballard PA, Tetrud JW, Langston JW (1985) Permanent human parkinsonism due to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP): seven cases. Neurology 35:949–956 8. Hertzman C, Wiens M, Bowering D, Snow B, Calne D (1990) Parkinson’s disease: a case–control study of occupational and environmental risk factors. Am J Ind Med 17:349–355 9. Liou HH, Tsai MC, Chen CJ, Jeng JS, Chang YC, Chen SY, Chen RC (1997) Environmental risk factors and Parkinson’s disease: a case–control study in Taiwan. Neurology 48:1583–1588 10. Bove´ J, Prou D, Perier C, Przedborski S (2005) Toxin-induced models of Parkinson’s disease. NeuroRx 2:484–894 11. Cocheme´ HM, Murphy MP (2008) Complex I is the major site of mitochondrial superoxide production by paraquat. J Biol Chem 283:1786–1798 12. Dinis-Oliveira RJ, Remiao F, Carmo H, Duarte JA, Navarro AS, Bastos ML, Carvalho F (2006) Paraquat exposure as an etiological factor of Parkinson’s disease. Neurotoxicology 27:1110– 1122 13. Chaudhuri A, Bowling K, Funderburk C, Lawal H, Inamdar A, Wang Z, O’Donnell JM (2007) Interaction of genetic and environmental factors in a Drosophila parkinsonism model. J Neurosci 27:2457–2467 14. Kuter K, Smiałowska M, Wieron´ska J, Zieba B, Wardas J, Pietraszek M, Nowak P, Biedka I, Roczniak W, Konieczny J, Wolfarth S, Ossowska K (2007) Toxic influence of subchronic paraquat administration on dopaminergic neurons in rats. Brain Res 1155:196–207 15. Li X, Yin J, Cheng CM, Sun JL, Li Z, Wu YL (2005) Paraquat induces selective dopaminergic nigrostriatal degeneration in aging C57BL/6 mice. Chin Med J (Engl) 118:1357–1361 16. Prasad K, Tarasewicz E, Mathew J, Strickland PA, Buckley B, Richardson JR, Richfield EK (2009) Toxicokinetics and
123
238
17.
18.
19.
20. 21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
Neurochem Res (2010) 35:227–238 toxicodynamics of paraquat accumulation in mouse brain. Exp Neurol 215:358–367 Nichols CD (2006) Drosophila melanogaster neurobiology, neuropharmacology, and how the fly can inform central nervous system drug discovery. Pharmacol Ther 112:677–700 Manev H, Dimitrijevic N, Dzitoyeva S (2003) Techniques: fruit flies as models for neuropharmacological research. Trends Pharmacol Sci 24:41–43 Jimenez-Del-Rio M, Daza-Restrepo A, Velez-Pardo C (2008) The cannabinoid CP55, 940 prolongs survival and improves locomotor activity in Drosophila melanogaster against paraquat: implications in Parkinson’s disease. Neurosci Res 61:404–411 Feany MB, Bender WW (2000) A Drosophila model of Parkinson’s disease. Nature 404:394–398 Pendleton RG, Rasheed A, Sardina T, Tully T, Hillman R (2002) Effects of tyrosine hydroxylase mutants on locomotor activity in Drosophila: a study in functional genomics. Behav Genet 32: 89–94 Wang C, Lu R, Ouyang X, Ho MW, Chia W, Yu F, Lim KL (2007) Drosophila overexpressing parkin R275W mutant exhibits dopaminergic neuron degeneration and mitochondrial abnormalities. J Neurosci 27:8563–8570 Sang TK, Chang HY, Lawless GM, Ratnaparkhi A, Mee L, Ackerson LC et al (2007) A Drosophila model of mutant human parkin-induced toxicity demonstrates selective loss of dopaminergic neurons and dependence on cellular dopamine. J Neurosci 27:981–992 Pendleton RG, Parvez F, Sayed M, Hillman R (2002) Effects of pharmacological agents upon a transgenic model of Parkinson’s disease in Drosophila melanogaster. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 300:91–96 Coulom H, Birman S (2004) Chronic exposure to rotenone models sporadic Parkinson’s disease in Drosophila melanogaster. J Neurosci 24:10993–10998 D’Archivio M, Filesi C, Di Benedetto R, Gargiulo R, Giovannini C, Masella R (2007) Polyphenols, dietary sources and bioavailability. Ann Ist Super Sanita 43:348–361 Sestili P, Diamantini G, Bedini A, Cerioni L, Tommasini I, Tarzia G, Cantoni O (2002) Plant-derived phenolic compounds prevent the DNA single-strand breakage and cytotoxicity induced by tertbutylhydroperoxide via an iron-chelating mechanism. Biochem J 364(Pt 1):121–128 Melidou M, Riganakos K, Galaris D (2005) Protection against nuclear DNA damage offered by flavonoids in cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide: the role of iron chelation. Free Radic Biol Med 39:1591–1600 Perron NR, Brumaghim JL (2009) A review of the antioxidant mechanisms of polyphenol compounds related to iron binding. Cell Biochem Biophys 53:75–100 Ramassamy C (2006) Emerging role of polyphenolic compounds in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases: a review of their intracellular targets. Eur J Pharmacol 545:51–64 Zaveri NT (2006) Green tea and its polyphenolic catechins: medicinal uses in cancer and noncancer applications. Life Sci 78:2073–2080 Galati G, Sabzevari O, Wilson JX, O’Brien PJ (2002) Prooxidant activity and cellular effects of the phenoxyl radicals of dietary flavonoids and other polyphenolics. Toxicology 177:91–104 Elbling L, Weiss RM, Teufelhofer O, Uhl M, Knasmueller S, Schulte-Hermann R, Berger W, Micksche M (2005) Green tea extract and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, the major tea catechin, exert oxidant but lack antioxidant activities. FASEB J 19: 807–809 Shin JK, Kim GN, Jang HD (2007) Antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects of green tea extracts in oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay. J Med Food 10:32–40
123
35. Beecher GR (2003) Overview of dietary flavonoids: nomenclature, occurrence and intake. J Nutr 133:3248S–3254S 36. USDA (2007) Database for the flavonoid content of selected foods. Release 2.1 January 2007. http://www.ars.usda.gov/ nutrientdata (available on August 2009) 37. Berg D, Youdim MB (2006) Role of iron in neurodegenerative disorders. Top Magn Reson Imaging 17:5–17 38. Farrington JA, Ebert M, Land EJ, Fletcher K (1973) Bipyridylium quaternary salts and related compounds. V. Pulse radiolysis studies of the reaction of paraquat radical with oxygen. Implications for the mode of action of bipyridyl herbicides. Biochim Biophys Acta 314:372–381 39. Huang D, Ou B, Prior RL (2005) The chemistry behind antioxidant capacity assays. J Agric Food Chem 53:1841–1856 40. Kim SJ, Han D, Ahn BH, Rhee JS (1997) Effect of glutathione, catechin, and epicatechin on the survival of Drosophila melanogaster under paraquat treatment. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 61:225–229 41. Li YM, Chan HY, Huang Y, Chen ZY (2007) Green tea catechins upregulate superoxide dismutase and catalase in fruit flies. Mol Nutr Food Res 51:546–554 42. Liu H, Guo Z, Xu L, Hsu S (2008) Protective effect of green tea polyphenols on tributyltin-induced oxidative damage detected by in vivo and in vitro models. Environ Toxicol 23:77–83 43. Villan˜o D, Fernandez-Pachon MS, Moya ML, Troncoso AM, Garcia-Parrila MC (2007) Radical scavenging ability of polyphenolic compounds towards DPPH free radical. Talanta 71: 230–235 44. Sroka Z, Cisowski W (2003) Hydrogen peroxide scavenging, antioxidant and anti-radical activity of some phenolic acids. Food Chem Toxicol 41:753–758 45. Beall CJ, Hirsh J (1987) Regulation of the Drosophila dopa decarboxylase gene in neuronal and glial cells. Genes Dev 1: 510–520 46. Perron NR, Hodges JN, Jenkins M, Brumaghim JL (2008) Predicting how polyphenol antioxidants prevent DNA damage by binding to iron. Inorg Chem 47:6153–6161 47. Oakley AE, Collingwood JF, Dobson J, Love G, Perrott HR, Edwardson JA, Elstner M, Morris CM (2007) Individual dopaminergic neurons show raised iron levels in Parkinson disease. Neurology 68:1820–1825 48. Wallis LI, Paley MN, Graham JM, Gru¨newald RA, Wignall EL, Joy HM, Griffiths PD (2008) MRI assessment of basal ganglia iron deposition in Parkinson’s disease. J Magn Reson Imaging 28:1061–1067 49. Nichol H, Law JH, Winzerling JJ (2002) Iron metabolism in insects. Annu Rev Entomol 47:535–559 50. Ben-Shachar D, Youdim MB (1991) Intranigral iron injection induces behavioral and biochemical ‘‘parkinsonism’’ in rats. J Neurochem 57:2133–2135 51. Sengstock GJ, Olanow CW, Menzies RA, Dunn AJ, Arendash GW (1993) Infusion of iron into the rat substantia nigra: nigral pathology and dose–dependent loss of striatal dopaminergic markers. J Neurosci Res 35:67–82 52. Sengstock GJ, Olanow CW, Dunn AJ, Barone S Jr, Arendash GW (1994) Progressive changes in striatal dopaminergic markers, nigral volume, and rotational behavior following iron infusion into the rat substantia nigra. Exp Neurol 130:82–94 53. Hattoria N, Wanga M, Taka H, Fujimura T, Yoritaka A, Kubo S, Mochizuki H (2009) Toxic effects of dopamine metabolism in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 15(Suppl 1): S35–S38 54. Peng J, Peng L, Stevenson FF, Doctrow SR, Andersen JK (2007) Iron and paraquat as synergistic environmental risk factors in sporadic Parkinson’s disease accelerate age-related neurodegeneration. J Neurosci 27:6914–6922
