Naringin exhibited anti-parkinsonian like effect against haloperidol-induced catalepsy in mice

Parkinsonism is a neurological disorder associated with a group of various motor-related symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, hypokinesia, defective gait, etc. It is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal tract. Accompanying various side effects with existing treatment options such as levodopa, selegiline, entacapone limits its usage in weak and aged patients. Considering the adverse reaction with the usage of present medications, there is a need to explore the beneficial effects of products from complementary medicine such as flavonoids. Naringin is one such flavonoid which possesses antioxidant effects along with neuroprotection to the nigrostriatal dopaminergic projecting neurons. Taking this as a clue this study was designed to explore the antiparkinsonian action of naringin in haloperidol-induced catalepsy in Swiss albino mice. In this study, animals were divided into five groups and catalepsy was induced in the mouse by intraperitoneal injection of haloperidol (1.5mg/kg). All the treatments with vehicle or naringin were performed 30 min prior to haloperidol injection. Catalepsy score was used as an indicator of behavior mechanism because of its similarity to PD symptoms, which was determined. Naringin treatment showed a reduction in haloperidol-induced cataleptic scores in both bar test and block test after 1 hour of treatment (except 100mg/kg in bar test) as compared with the normal control group. These effects could be attributed due to either dopamine agonist activity or due to its effect on raising dopamine levels in the nigrostriatal tract. However, the mechanisms behind the neuroprotective effect of naringin are not fully defined. Thus, we can conclude that naringin can protect against drug-induced Parkinson’s disease.